Silver Maple     Aceraceae    Acer saccharinum L.
Other Name:  Soft Maple

Description

Leaf:  Opposite, simple; blades up to 8 inches long, nearly as broad; deeply palmately 5-lobed, the edges of the leaves sharply toothed, sides of the topmost lobe always sloping inward; pale green and smooth on the upper surface, silvery-white and usually smooth on the lower surface, except in the leaf axils; leafstalks smooth, up to 5 inches long, often reddish; leaves turning over in slightest breeze to show silvery undersides; blades turning yellow in autumn.

Flower:  Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but sometimes on the same tree, in dense clusters, greenish-yellow, opening in February and March before the leaves begin to unfold.

Fruit:  Borne in pairs, composed of a curved wing with a seed at the base, wings 60 to 90 degrees apart; green or yellow, up to 3 inches long; woolly when young; ripening in early spring.

Twig:  Slender, smooth, light green to reddish-brown, often curving upward, with slightly unpleasant odor when crushed; leaf scars opposite, U-shaped, with 3 to 7 bundle traces.

Bark:  Bark on younger trees, smooth, gray or silvery with brown tinge; on older trees ruddy brown, rough, and scaly, often flaking off and exposing the inner ruddy coloring.

Form:  In the open the silver maple has a grayish-barked trunk which divides near the ground into several large ascending limbs.  The lower branches sweep gracefully downward and turn up at the tips, the middle branches spread horizontally, and the upper ones ascend to form a broadly rounded crown.  Commonly the silver maple is a tree 60 to 80 feet in height with a trunk 2 to 3 feet in diameter, but sometimes it may attain a height of 120 feet, with a trunk diameter as great as five feet. 

Discussion

The wood is moderately important.  The wood is softer than that of the sugar, or hard,  maple and it is often referred to as "soft maple."  It is medium-lightweight but brittle, and is used for boxes, crates, veneer, inexpensive furniture, and many other purposes.  Although the sugar grade of the sap is superior to that of the sugar maple, the yield is not abundant and therefore not commercially viable.

The silver maple is a useful forest tree to many wildlife species.  Squirrels, rodents and birds (particularly pine and evening grosbeaks) eat the seeds; deer eat the young twigs and foliage; and hollow trucks serve as dens for raccoons and squirrels.

American Indians used a tea made from the inner bark to treat coughs and diarrhea, as a diuretic, an expectorant, and as a "blood purifier".  Unprocessed maple syrup was said to be a liver tonic and a cleansing agent for the kidneys.  The syrup is also used to treat coughs.

Distinguishing Characteristics

The deeply lobed leaves which are silvery-white on the lower surface best distinguish this tree.

Distribution

New Brunswick across to Minnesota and South Dakota, south to Oklahoma, Texas, east to northern Florida.

Images

Click each small picture to see a larger image.

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October,2002 JC

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October, 2002 JC

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October, 2002 JC

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October, 2002 JC 		smapllwr.jpg (19226 bytes)
October, 2002 LS 		smaptsum.jpg (24092 bytes)
October, 2002 LS

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March, 2003 EL

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March, 2003 EL

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March, 2003 EL

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March, 2003 EL 		smapbsca.jpg (23934 bytes)
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March, 2003
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April, 2003 		smapfrut.jpg (23031 bytes)
April, 2003

Location

N 39.27896°    W -89.87891°                                                                      
Southeast lawn of Macoupin County Courthouse, 200 Block East First South, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.

Copyright

Photos © 2002 Johnna Crane and Lisa Stratton, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net

References

Charles Sprague Sargent, Manual of the Trees of North America, Volume Two, 1965, Dover Publications, Inc.

Elbert L. Little, Field Guide to Trees: Western Region, 1980, Alfred A. Knopf.

F. Schuyler Mathews, Field Book of American Trees and Shrubs, 1915, G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Iowa State University, Biology Department
http://project.bio.iastate.edu/trees/campustrees/AcerSaccharinum/AcerSacchari__uses.html

Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Forest Trees of Illinois, 1996, Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Ohio Public Library Information Network and The Ohio Historical Society
http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/tree/fact%20pages/maple_silver/maple_silver.html

William C. Grimm, Familiar Trees of America, 1967, Harper & Row. 

Wilkes University
http://wilkes1.wilkes.edu/~kirbypl/
(Click species list, select silver maple)

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