Sugar Maple Fall Tree Colors
Fall Tree Colors - Sugar Maple - Acer
Saccharum
The Sugar Maple is one of the more colorful autumn
trees. It is also one of the more common trees found in
the eastern deciduous tree forests. Its leaves can turn
one of two colors, golden yellow or a glowing
orange-red. The five lobed simple leaves are broadest at
the base, each of the lobes tapering to a point. The
bark will be a smooth, grayish white on young trees, and
slightly to deeply furrowed on older ones.
Acer saccharin is generally a tree of lower elevations,
but will not usually be found in swampy ground. It will
prefer well drained, rich woodland soil. It will usually
be found growing in the same areas with American Beech,
Black Cherry, Red and White Oak, and Shagbark Hickory.
Sugar Maple will usually be the predominant tree in most
of the forests it inhabits.
Sugar Maple is probably best known for its sweet sap
which can be converted into syrup, sugar, candy and
other confections. This is a skill the American Indians
taught the colonists and has turned into a major forest
industry, supplying syrup for pancakes worldwide.
Sugar Maple is also a valuable hardwood for furniture
making, its hard lumber suitable for furniture, veneer,
cabinets and musical instruments. It is also a valuable
wildlife tree, its seeds eaten by many wild animals and
birds.
Acer saccharin, the Sugar Maple, is one of the basic
components of the rich palette of colors which paint the
forests of the eastern United States each year. Its
yellow or reddish leaves glow in the autumn sunlight..
Its lumber is a valuable forest resource and various
products manufactured from its sweet sap enrich our
lives. Its seeds provide a rich source of nutrition for
much of the wildlife inhabiting the woodlands.
© 2006 Paul Wonning is the owner of Gardens and
Nature.com a web site about gardening, hiking and other
nature related topics. Our blog about gardening is
located here: Hoosier
Hurricane - Blog about Gardening
Fall Tree Colors - Sugar Maple
|
