Nature Bulletin No. 398-A   December 5, 1970
Forest Preserve District of Cook CountyGeorge W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:OTHER MEMBERS OF THE MAPLE CLAN

The streets of many towns, particularly here in the Middle West, are 
lined with big old Silver Maples, so-named because the undersides of 
the pale green 5-lobed leaves are silvery. They were planted because 
the tree grows rapidly but, unfortunately, its large limbs and long 
drooping branches are so brittle that they may be badly crippled by 
wind and ice storms. It is attacked by the cottony maple scale, a sucking 
insect, and by boring beetles. Fungus diseases cause heart rot and 
hollow trunks. So it is not a good street tree but in the wild such cavities 
provide homes for owls, raccoons and possums .

This Soft Maple, as many people call it, blooms very early in spring, 
long before the leaves appear, when the twigs are covered with dull red 
buds and thick clusters of short-stalked yellowish-green flowers which 
have no petals. These are followed by clusters of winged seeds in pairs, 
which are larger and joined at a wider angle than those of the sugar 
maple. It grows throughout eastern United States in lowlands and 
especially along stream banks in company with willows, cottonwoods, 
elms and ashes. Its brittle wood has many uses but is much inferior to 
that of the sugar maple. A variety with finely-divided leaves, the Cutleaf 
Maple, is more admired as a shade tree.

The Red Maple is another fast-growing species of the stream banks and 
lowlands: especially swamps. In early spring it i9 beautiful: covered 
with clusters of little ruby red flowers which, on this maple, have petals. 
The leaves -- often 3-lobed; bright green above and whitish underneath, 
with reddish stems -- appear much later. In early fall they turn to 
brilliant shades of red, sometimes mixed with orange. Its wood is 
ranked commercially between that of sugar maple and the silver maple.

The Boxelder, or Ash-Leafed Maple, is unique in having compound 
leaves with from 3 to 7, rarely 9, pale green pointed leaflets that are 
extremely variable in shape. Its seedlings are often mistaken for poison 
ivy. In autumn the leaflets turn dingy yellow and quickly drop off, but 
clusters of the winged seeds may hang on all winter. Its natural habitat 
is in low ground and stream banks almost anywhere in temperate North 
America east of the Rocks, but it is very hardy, quick growing, and 
thrives even on the dry prairies, so it has been widely used for 
windbreaks and shelterbelts.

In the Middle West, prior to 1900, it was widely planted as a shade tree 
and now grows like weeds along roadsides and hedgerows. However, it 
is usually a small or medium-sized tree, irregular in shape, short lived, 
and attacked by hordes of sucking, boring and leaf-eating insects. Its 
very light soft wood is almost useless. Along the creek in White Pines 
State Park. are four or five huge boxelders with massive, very knotty 
trunks.

The Black Maple has a smaller, more northern range than the sugar 
maple, of which most experts consider it to be a variety. The bark is 
darker and finely corrugated (not coarsely plated), the leaves are darker 
and usually 3-lobed (instead of 5), but otherwise the two trees are much 
the same.

Two small maples are usually found together in the north woods: the 
Striped Maple, which has green bark with white stripes, and the 
Mountain Maple. They are valuable as browse for deer and moose, and 
the buds are winter food for grouse. Along the Pacific coast, from 
Alaska to southern California, there are four other species but only the 
Bigleaf Maple is valuable as a lumber and shade tree. Its broad leaves 
are from 6 to 12 inches long.

These, and the sugar maple, are the principal American kinds.