''Acer'' () is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s and
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s commonly known as maples. The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
is placed in the family
Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee.
The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...
.
[Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.] There are approximately 132
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, most of which are native to
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, with a number also appearing in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, northern
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. Only one species, ''
Acer laurinum
''Acer laurinum'' is an evergreen Asian tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is the only member of its genus with native populations in the Southern Hemisphere, with a distribution encompassing Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos ( Kh ...
'', extends to the
Southern Hemisphere.
[Gibbs, D. & Chen, Y. (2009]
The Red List of Maples
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
of the genus is the sycamore maple, ''
Acer pseudoplatanus
''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the Sapindus, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved ...
'', the most common maple species in Europe.
[van Gelderen, C. J. & van Gelderen, D. M. (1999). ''Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia''] Maples usually have easily recognizable
palmate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
leaves (''
Acer negundo
''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or inv ...
'' is an exception) and distinctive
winged fruits. The closest relatives of the maples are the
horse chestnuts
The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with species called buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with six species n ...
.
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
is made from the sap of some maple species. It is one of the most common genera of trees in Asia.
Evolutionary history
The closest relative of ''Acer'' is ''
Dipteronia
''Dipteronia'' is a genus with two living and one extinct species in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. The living species are native to central and southern China, The fossil species has been found in Middle Paleocene to Early Oligocene sediments ...
,'' which only has two living species in China, but has a fossil record extending back to the middle
Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...
in North America. The oldest known fossils of ''Acer'' are from the late Paleocene of
Northeast Asia
Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean.
The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scienti ...
and northern North America, around 60 million years old. The oldest fossils of ''Acer'' in Europe are from
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
, dating to the late
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
(
Priabonian
The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of t ...
~38-34 million years old).
Morphology
![Acer saccharum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Acer_saccharum.jpg)
Most maples are trees growing to a height of . Others are shrubs less than 10 meters tall with a number of small
trunks originating at ground level. Most species are
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
, and many are renowned for their
autumn leaf colour
Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normal green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon i ...
, but a few in southern Asia and the
Mediterranean region
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...
are
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
. Most are
shade-tolerant
In ecology, shade tolerance is a plant's ability to tolerate low light levels. The term is also used in horticulture and landscaping, although in this context its use is sometimes imprecise, especially in labeling of plants for sale in commercial ...
when young and are often riparian, understory, or pioneer species rather than climax overstory trees. There are a few exceptions such as
sugar maple
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...
. Many of the
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
systems are typically dense and fibrous, inhibiting the growth of other vegetation underneath them. A few species, notably ''
Acer cappadocicum
''Acer cappadocicum'', the Cappadocian maple, is a maple native to Asia, from central Turkey (ancient Cappadocia) east along the Caucasus, the Himalayas, to southwestern China.Mitchell, A. F. (1974). ''A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and No ...
'', frequently produce
root sprout
Basal shoots, root sprouts, adventitious shoots, and suckers are words for various kinds of shoots that grow from adventitious buds on the base of a tree or shrub, or from adventitious buds on its roots. Shoots that grow from buds on the base of ...
s, which can develop into
clonal colonies
A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals, such as plants, fungi, or bacteria, that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively, not sexually, from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in s ...
.
![Vine Maple leaves and flowers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Vine_Maple_leaves_and_flowers.jpg)
Maples are distinguished by opposite
leaf
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
arrangement. The leaves in most species are
palmate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
veined and lobed, with 3 to 9 (rarely to 13) veins each leading to a lobe, one of which is central or apical. A small number of species differ in having palmate compound,
pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...
compound, pinnate veined or unlobed leaves. Several species, including ''
Acer griseum
''Acer griseum'', the paperbark maple or blood-bark maple, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to central China.Flora of China (draft)''Acer griseum''/ref> ''Acer griseum'' is found in the Chinese provinces of Ga ...
'' (paperbark maple), ''
Acer mandshuricum
''Acer mandshuricum'', the Manchurian maple, is a species of maple native to China (southeastern Gansu, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, southern Shaanxi), Korea and Russia (Primorsky Krai).
Description
''Acer mandshuricum'' is a slender decidu ...
'' (Manchurian maple), ''
Acer maximowiczianum
''Acer maximowiczianum'' (Nikko maple; syn. ''A. nikoense'' Maxim.), is a species of maple widely distributed in China (Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang) and Japan (Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku).Xu, T.-z., Chen, Y., de Jong, P. C., & ...
'' (Nikko maple) and ''
Acer triflorum
''Acer triflorum'', the three-flowered maple, is a species of maple native to hills of northeastern China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning) and Korea.
It is a deciduous tree that reaches a height of about but is usually smaller.Xu, T.-z., Chen, ...
'' (three-flowered maple), have trifoliate leaves. One species, ''
Acer negundo
''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or inv ...
'' (box-elder or Manitoba maple), has pinnately compound leaves that may be simply trifoliate or may have five, seven, or rarely nine leaflets. A few, such as ''
Acer laevigatum
''Acer laevigatum'', the smooth maple or Nepal maple, is an atypical species of maple native to southern China (Guizhou, Hong Kong, Hubei, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan), northern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim), northern Myanmar, Nepal, and ...
'' (Nepal maple) and ''
Acer carpinifolium
''Acer carpinifolium'' (hornbeam maple; Japanese: チドリノキ ''Chidorinoki'' "zigzag tree") is a species of maple native to Japan, on the islands of Honshū, Kyūshū, and Shikoku, where it grows in woodlands and alongside streams in mounta ...
'' (hornbeam maple), have pinnately veined simple leaves.
![Maple7951](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Maple7951.JPG)
Maple species, such as ''
Acer rubrum
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...
'', may be
monoecious
Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy.
Monoecy is conne ...
,
dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...
or
polygamodioecious
Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction.
Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive st ...
. The
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are regular,
pentamerous Merosity (from the greek "méros," which means "having parts") refers to the number of component parts in a distinct whorl of a plant structure. The term is most commonly used in the context of a flower where it refers to the number of sepals in a ...
, and borne in
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s,
corymb
Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...
s, or
umbels
In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...
. They have four or five
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s, four or five
petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
s about 1–6 mm long (absent in some species), four to ten
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s about 6–10 mm long, and two
pistil
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
s or a pistil with two styles. The
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
is superior and has two
carpel
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
s, whose wings elongate the flowers, making it easy to tell which flowers are female. Maples flower in late
winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...
or early
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
, in most species with or just after the appearance of the leaves, but in some before the trees leaf out.
[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .]
Maple flowers are green, yellow, orange or red. Though individually small, the effect of an entire tree in flower can be striking in several species. Some maples are an early spring source of
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
and
nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
for
bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...
s.
The distinctive
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
s are called
samaras, "maple keys", "helicopters", "whirlybirds" or "polynoses". These
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s occur in distinctive pairs each containing one seed enclosed in a "nutlet" attached to a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue. They are shaped to spin as they fall and to carry the seeds a considerable distance on the wind. People often call them "helicopters" due to the way that they spin as they fall. During World War II, the US Army developed a special airdrop supply carrier that could carry up to of supplies and was based on the maple seed. Seed maturation is usually in a few weeks to six months after flowering, with
seed dispersal
In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.
Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...
shortly after maturity. However, one tree can release hundreds of thousands of seeds at a time. Depending on the species, the seeds can be small and green to orange and big with thicker seed pods. The green seeds are released in pairs, sometimes with the stems still connected. The yellow seeds are released individually and almost always without the stems. Most species require
stratification
Stratification may refer to:
Mathematics
* Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols
* Data stratification in statistics
Earth sciences
* Stable and unstable stratification
* Stratification, or str ...
in order to
germinate
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
, and some seeds can remain dormant in the soil for several years before germinating.
The genus ''Acer'' together with genus ''Dipteronia'' are either classified in a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of their own, the ''
Aceraceae
Aceraceae were recognized as a family of flowering plants also called the maple family. They contain two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120 species of trees and shrubs. A common characteristic is that the leaves are ...
'', or else classified as members of the family ''
Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee.
The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...
''. Recent classifications, including the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disco ...
system, favour inclusion in ''Sapindaceae''. When put in family ''Sapindaceae'', genus ''Acer'' is put in
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
''
Hippocastanoideae
Hippocastanoideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. The group was formerly treated as the separate families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Molecular phylogenetic research by Harrington et al. (2005) has show ...
''. The genus is subdivided by its morphology into a multitude of sections and subsections. Molecular studies incorporating DNA sequence data from both chloroplast and nuclear genomes, aiming to resolve the internal relationships and reconstruct the evolutionairy history of the group, suggest a Late Paleocene origin for the group, appearing first in the northeastern Palearctic. Rapid lineage divergence was followed by several independent dispersals to the Nearctic and Western Palearctic regions.
Fifty-four species of maples meet the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
criteria for being under threat of extinction in their native habitat.
Pests and diseases
![RhytismaAcerinumDetailU](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/RhytismaAcerinumDetailU.jpg)
The leaves are used as a food plant for the
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
e of a number of the order
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
(see
List of Lepidoptera that feed on maples
Maples, ''Acer'' species, are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species. These include:
Monophagous
Species which feed exclusively on ''Acer''
* Gelechiidae
** '' Chionodes negundella'' - feeds on Manitoba maple (''Acer ...
). In high concentrations, caterpillars, like the greenstriped mapleworm (''
Dryocampa rubicunda
''Dryocampa rubicunda'', the rosy maple moth, is a small North American moth in the family Saturniidae, also known as the great silk moths. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. The species is known for its wooly body and ...
''), can feed on the leaves so much that they cause temporary defoliation of host maple trees.
Aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...
s are also very common sap-feeders on maples. In horticultural applications a
dimethoate
Dimethoate is a widely used organophosphate insecticide and acaricide. It was patented and introduced in the 1950s by American Cyanamid. Like other organophosphates, dimethoate is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor which disables cholinesterase, an ...
spray will solve this.
Infestations of the
Asian long-horned beetle
The Asian long-horned beetle (''Anoplophora glabripennis''), also known as the starry sky, sky beetle, or ALB, is native to eastern China, and Korea. This species has now been accidentally introduced into the United States, where it was first di ...
(''Anoplophora glabripennis'') have resulted in the destruction of thousands of maples and other tree species in Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio in the United States and Ontario, Canada.
Maples are affected by a number of
fungal
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
diseases. Several are susceptible to Verticillium wilt caused by ''
Verticillium
''Verticillium'' is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the family Plectosphaerellaceae. The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mo ...
'' species, which can cause significant local mortality.
Sooty bark disease, caused by ''
Cryptostroma
''Cryptostroma corticale'' is a species of fungus that causes sooty bark disease of maples, particularly sycamore (''Acer pseudoplatanus''). The spores grow profusely under the bark of affected trees or stacked logs. The fungus causes disease an ...
'' species, can kill trees that are under stress due to
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
. Death of maples can rarely be caused by ''
Phytophthora
''Phytophthora'' (from Greek language, Greek (''phytón''), "plant" and (), "destruction"; "the plant-destroyer") is a genus of plant-damaging oomycetes (water molds), whose member species are capable of causing enormous economic losses on cro ...
''
root rot
Root rot is a condition in which anoxic conditions in the soil or potting media around the roots of a plant cause them to rot. This occurs due to excessive standing water around the roots. It is found in both indoor and outdoor plants, although ...
and ''
Ganoderma
''Ganoderma'' is a genus of polypore fungi in the family Ganodermataceae that includes about 80 species, many from tropical regions. They have a high genetic diversity and are used in traditional Asian medicines. ''Ganoderma'' can be differenti ...
'' root decay. Maple leaves in late summer and autumn are commonly disfigured by "tar spot" caused by ''
Rhytisma
''Rhytisma'' is a genus of fungi in the Rhytismataceae family commonly known as 'tar spot'. There are about 18 species, which live parasitically in the leaves of deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () ...
'' species and
mildew
Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mould, largely by its colour: moulds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consi ...
caused by ''
Uncinula
''Uncinula'' is a genus of fungi. Its species are plant pathogens that cause powdery mildew diseases on various plant hosts. The genus is characterized by its dark chasmothecia which bear filamentous, hyaline appendages with hooked tips. Over o ...
'' species, though these diseases do not usually have an adverse effect on the trees' long-term health.
[Phillips, D. H. & Burdekin, D. A. (1992). ''Diseases of Forest and Ornamental Trees''. Macmillan. .]
Cultural significance
![Sammatti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Sammatti.vaakuna.svg)
A
maple leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
History of use in Canada
By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
is on the
coat of arms of Canada
The Arms of Canada (french: Armoiries du Canada, links=no), also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada (french: armoiries royales du Canada, links=no) or formally as the Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (french: Armoiries de Sa M ...
, and is on the
Canadian flag
The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...
. The maple is a common symbol of strength and endurance and has been chosen as the national tree of Canada. Maple leaves are traditionally an important part of
Canadian Forces
}
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
military regalia, for example, the military rank insignia for generals use maple leaf symbols.
There are 10 species naturally growing in the country, with at least one in each province. Although the idea of the tree as a national symbol originally hailed from the province of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
where the
sugar maple
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...
is significant, today's arboreal emblem of Canada rather refers to a generic maple. The design on the
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
is an eleven-point stylization modeled after a sugar maple leaf (which normally bears 23 points).
It is also in the name of the Canadian ice hockey team, the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
.
The first attested use of the word was in 1260 as "mapole", and it also appears a century later in
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
'', spelled as "mapul". The maple is also a symbol of
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
, ubiquitous in the local ''
meibutsu
is a term most often applied to regional specialties (also known as ).
can also be applied to specialized areas of interest, such as , where it refers to famous tea utensils, or Japanese swords, where it refers to specific named famous blades.
...
''.
The maple leaf appears in the coat of arms of
Sammatti
Sammatti () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the city of Lohja in the beginning of 2009.
It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality had a population of 1,365 ...
, a former municipality of
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Uses
Horticulture
![Acer palmatum sango kaku](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Acer_palmatum_sango_kaku.jpg)
Some species of maple are extensively planted as
ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
s by homeowners, businesses, and municipalities due to their fall colour, relatively fast growth, ease of transplanting, and lack of hard seeds that would pose a problem for mowing lawns. Particularly popular are
Norway maple
''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...
(although it is considered invasive in North America),
silver maple
''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...
,
Japanese maple
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. ...
, and
red maple
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nativ ...
. Other maples, especially smaller or more unusual species, are popular as specimen trees.
Cultivars
Numerous maple
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s that have been selected for particular characteristics can be
propagated only by
asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...
such as cuttings,
tissue culture
Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...
, budding or
grafting
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...
. ''
Acer palmatum
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russi ...
'' (Japanese maple) alone has over 1,000 cultivars, most selected in Japan, and many of them no longer propagated or not in cultivation in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. . Some delicate cultivars are usually grown in pots and rarely reach heights of more than 50–100 cm.
![Japanese Maple 'Kiyohime'](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Japanese_Maple_%27Kiyohime%27.jpg)
Bonsai
![Bonsai Federahorn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Bonsai_Federahorn.jpg)
Maples are a popular choice for the art of
bonsai
Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...
.
Japanese maple
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. ...
(''Acer palmatum''),
trident maple
''Acer buergerianum'' (trident maple; ) is a species of maple native to eastern China (from Shandong west to southeastern Gansu, south to Guangdong, and southwest to Sichuan), Taiwan and Japan. The specific epithet is a patronym honoring Dutch pl ...
(''A. buergerianum''),
Amur maple
''Acer ginnala'', the Amur maple, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous ...
(''A. ginnala''),
field maple
''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...
(''A. campestre'') and
Montpellier maple
''Acer monspessulanum'', the Montpellier maple, is a species of maple native to the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal in the west, to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel in the east, and north to the Jura Mountains in France and th ...
(''A. monspessulanum'') are popular choices and respond well to techniques that encourage leaf reduction and
ramification, but most species can be used.
Collections
![Acer griseum3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Acer_griseum3.jpg)
Maple collections, sometimes called ''aceretums'', occupy space in many gardens and
arboreta
An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
around the world including the "five great W's" in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
:
Wakehurst Place Garden,
Westonbirt Arboretum
Westonbirt, The National Arboretum is an arboretum in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of the town of Tetbury. Managed by Forestry England, it is perhaps the most important and widely known arboretum in the United Kingdom.
Planted in ...
,
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...
,
Winkworth Arboretum
Winkworth Arboretum is a National Trust-owned arboretum in the spread-out civil parish of Busbridge between Godalming and Hascombe, south-west Surrey, England.
The arboretum was founded by Dr Wilfrid Fox, starting in 1938 and continuing throu ...
and
Wisley Garden
RHS Garden Wisley is a garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in Wisley, Surrey, south of London. It is one of five gardens run by the society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, and Bridgewater (which opened on 18 M ...
. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the aceretum at the
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
-owned
Arnold Arboretum
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
is especially notable. In the number of species and cultivars, the
Esveld Aceretum
Esveld Aceretum is (in the number of species and cultivars under cultivation at the site) the largest collection of maples in the world.''Maples for Gardens: A Color Encyclopedia'' by C.J. van Gelderen & D.M. van Gelderen, 1999 The aceretum is par ...
in
Boskoop, Netherlands, is the largest in the world.
Commercial uses
Maples are important as sources of syrup and wood. Dried wood is often used for the
smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
of food. Charcoal from maples is an integral part of the
Lincoln County Process
The Lincoln County Process is a step used in producing almost all Tennessee whiskeys. The whiskey is filtered through — or steeped in used to make
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to ...
.
They are also cultivated as
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
s and have benefits for
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.
Timber
![curly maple bench](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Curly_maple_bench.jpg)
Some of the larger maple species have valuable
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
, particularly Sugar maple in North America and Sycamore maple in Europe. Sugar maple wood—often known as "hard maple"—is the wood of choice for
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
pins, bowling alley lanes, pool
cue shafts, and
butcher's blocks. Maple wood is also used for the manufacture of wooden
baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...
s, though less often than
ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
or
hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...
due to the tendency of maple bats to shatter if they do break. The maple bat was introduced to
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) in 1998 by
Sam Bat
Sam Bat, officially The Original Maple Bat Corporation, is a Canadian company based in the town of Carleton Place, Ontario that manufactures baseball bats. It was the first company to supply baseball bats manufactured from maple wood to professi ...
founder Sam Holman. Today it is the standard maple bat most in use by professional baseball. Maple is also commonly used in archery as the core material in the limbs of a
recurve bow
In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a ...
due to its stiffness and strength.
Maple wood is often graded based on physical and aesthetic characteristics. The most common terminology includes the grading scale from common #2; which is unselected and often used for craft woods; common #1, used for commercial and residential buildings; clear; and select grade, which is sought for fine woodworking.
Some maple wood has a highly decorative
wood grain
Wood grain is the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers or the pattern resulting from such an arrangement.
Definition and meanings
R. Bruce Hoadley wrote that ''grain'' is a "confusingly versatile term" with numerous different uses, including ...
, known as
flame maple
Flame maple (tiger maple), also known as ''flamed maple'', ''curly maple'', ''ripple maple'', ''fiddleback'' or ''tiger stripe'', is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating Chatoyancy, chatoyant pat ...
,
quilt maple
Quilt or quilted maple refers to a type of figure in maple wood. It is seen on the tangential plane ( flat-sawn) and looks like a wavy "quilted" pattern, often similar to ripples on water. The highest quality quilted figure is found in the West ...
,
birdseye maple
Bird's eye is a type of figure that occurs within several kinds of wood, most notably in hard maple. It has a distinctive pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes disrupting the smooth lines of grain. It is somewhat reminiscent of a burl, but ...
and
burl wood. This condition occurs randomly in individual trees of several species and often cannot be detected until the wood has been sawn, though it is sometimes visible in the standing tree as a rippled pattern in the bark.
These select decorative wood pieces also have subcategories that further filter the aesthetic looks. Crotch wood, bees wing, cats paw, old growth and mottled are some terms used to describe the look of these decorative woods.
Maples have a long history of use for furniture production in the United States.
The
Cherokee Indians
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
would produce a purple dye from maple bark, which they used to dye cloth.
Tonewood
Maple is considered a
tonewood
Tonewood refers to specific wood varieties that possess tonal properties that make them good choices for use in woodwind or acoustic stringed instruments.
Varieties of tonewood
As a rough generalization it can be said that stiff-but-light softwoo ...
, or a wood that carries sound waves well, and is used in numerous
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
s. Maple is harder and has a brighter sound than
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
, which is another major tonewood used in instrument manufacturing.
The back, sides, and neck of most
violins
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
,
violas
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
,
cellos
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...
, and
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
es are made from maple.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
necks are commonly made from maple, having good dimensional stability. The necks of the Fender
Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
and
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
were originally an entirely maple one piece neck, but later were also available with
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...
fingerboards.
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
desired an all maple guitar, but due to the weight of maple, only the tops of
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
's Les Paul guitars are made from carved maple, often using quilted or flamed maple tops. Due to its weight, very few
solid body
thumb , Sound sample of solid-body electric guitar.
A solid-body musical instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electromagnetic pickup system to directly detect th ...
guitars are made entirely from maple, but many guitars have maple necks, tops or veneers.
Maple is also often used to make
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s and sometimes for other
woodwind instrument
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Reed ...
s like maple recorders.
Many
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s are made from maple. From the 1970s to the 1990s, maple drum kits were a vast majority of all drum kits made, but in recent years,
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
has become popular for drums once again. Some of the best drum-building companies use maple extensively throughout their mid-pro range.
Maple drums are favored for their bright resonant sound.
Certain types of drum sticks are also made from maple.
Agriculture
During late winter to early spring in northeastern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, when the night-to-day temperatures change from freezing to thawing, maple trees may be tapped for
sap
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...
to manufacture
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...
.
The sap is sent via tubing to a
sugar house
A sugar shack (french: cabane à sucre), also known as sap house, sugar house, sugar shanty or sugar cabin is a commercial establishment, primarily found in Eastern Canada and northern New England. Sugar shacks are small cabins or groups of cab ...
where it is boiled to produce syrup or made into
maple sugar
Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in Canada and the northeastern United States, prepared from the sap of the maple tree ("maple sap").
Sources
Three species of maple trees in the genus '' Acer'' are predominantly used to produce maple ...
or
maple taffy
Maple taffy (sometimes maple toffee in English-speaking Canada, tire d'érable or tire sur la neige in French-speaking Canada; also sugar on snow or candy on the snow or leather aprons in the United States) is a sugar candy made by boiling maple s ...
. It takes about of sugar maple sap to make of syrup.
[ While any ''Acer'' species may be tapped for syrup, many do not have sufficient quantities of sugar to be commercially useful, whereas ]sugar maple
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...
s (''A. saccharum'') are most commonly used to produce maple syrup.[ ]Québec, Canada
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
is a major producer of maple syrup, an industry worth about 500 million Canadian dollars
The Canadian dollar ( symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...
annually.
Also, as these trees are a major source of pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
in early spring before many other plants have flowered, maple flowers are a source of foraging for honeybee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmo ...
s that play a commercially important role in general agriculture and in natural habitats.
Pulpwood
Maple is used as pulpwood
Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production.
Applications
* Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...
. The fibers have relatively thick walls that prevent collapsing upon drying. This gives good bulk and opacity in paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
. Maple also gives paper good printing properties.
Tourism
Many maples have bright autumn foliage
Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normal green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon i ...
, and many countries have leaf-watching traditions. The sugar maple ''(Acer saccharum
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...
)'' is the primary contributor to fall " foliage season" in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, particularly in Central Ontario
Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
The population of the region was 1,123,307 in 2016; however, this number does not in ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and northern New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
.
In Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, the custom of viewing the changing colour of maples in the autumn is called ''momijigari''. Nikko and Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
are particularly favoured destinations for this activity. In Korea, the same viewing activity is called ''danpung-nori'' and the Seoraksan
Seoraksan is the highest mountain in the Taebaek mountain range in the Gangwon Province (South Korea), Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea. It is located in a national park near the city of Sokcho. After the Hallasan volcano on Jeju-do, Jeju ...
and Naejang-san
Naejangsan is a mountain located on the border of North Jeolla and South Jeolla provinces in southwestern South Korea, approximately three hours drive south of Seoul. It has an elevation of .
National park
Naejangsan forms the core of Naejangsan ...
mountains are among the best-known destinations.
Gallery
File:台灣三角楓 Acer buergerianum var. formosanum 20220411100147 08.jpg, ''Acer buergerianum var. formosanum
Acer may refer to:
* ''Acer'' (plant), the genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples
* Acer Inc., a computer company in Taiwan
** Acer Laboratories Incorporated, a subsidiary company of Acer, Inc., that designs and manufactures integrate ...
'' leaves and fruit
Image:Acer cappadocicum spring.jpg, ''Acer cappadocicum
''Acer cappadocicum'', the Cappadocian maple, is a maple native to Asia, from central Turkey (ancient Cappadocia) east along the Caucasus, the Himalayas, to southwestern China.Mitchell, A. F. (1974). ''A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and No ...
'' (Cappadocian maple)
Image:Acer carpinifolium.jpg, ''Acer carpinifolium
''Acer carpinifolium'' (hornbeam maple; Japanese: チドリノキ ''Chidorinoki'' "zigzag tree") is a species of maple native to Japan, on the islands of Honshū, Kyūshū, and Shikoku, where it grows in woodlands and alongside streams in mounta ...
'' leaves
Image:Acer ginnala.jpg, '' Acer ginnala'' foliage
Image:Bi-colored Maple Tree.jpg, ''Acer grandidentatum
''Acer grandidentatum'', commonly called bigtooth maple, is a species of maple native to interior western North America. It occurs in scattered populations from western Montana to central Texas in the United States and south to Coahuila in northe ...
'' (bigtooth maple) in autumn colour
Image:Paperbark Maple Acer griseum Leaves Closeup 2856px.jpg, ''Acer griseum
''Acer griseum'', the paperbark maple or blood-bark maple, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to central China.Flora of China (draft)''Acer griseum''/ref> ''Acer griseum'' is found in the Chinese provinces of Ga ...
'' (paperbark maple)
Image:Acer laevigatum 3.jpg, ''Acer laevigatum
''Acer laevigatum'', the smooth maple or Nepal maple, is an atypical species of maple native to southern China (Guizhou, Hong Kong, Hubei, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan), northern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim), northern Myanmar, Nepal, and ...
'' leaves and fruit
Image:Acer macrophyllum 0304.jpg, ''Acer macrophyllum
''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''.
It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...
'' flowers and young leaves
File:青楓 Acer serrulatum 20210419095802 02.jpg, ''Acer oliverianum
''Acer oliverianum'', common names Oliver's maple and Oliver maple, is broadleaf deciduous tree. It is a species of maple.
Description
''Acer oliverianum'' has a smooth bark that is jade green in colour, with fine white waxy stripes. It grows up ...
'' The Chinese name "Qingfeng" comes from the bark color of the new branches and young trunk which are green.
Image:TenryujiMomiji.jpg, ''Acer palmatum
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russi ...
'' trees and bamboo in Japan
Image:Red maple leaf.jpg, ''Acer palmatum
''Acer palmatum'', commonly known as Japanese maple, palmate maple, or smooth Japanese maple (Japanese: ''irohamomiji'', , or ''momiji'', (栴), is a species of woody plant native to Japan, Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russi ...
'' leaf in autumn
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...
Image:Maple leaf Fcb981.JPG, ''Acer platanoides
''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...
'' leaf
Image:Helicopter leaves.jpg, ''Acer platanoides
''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...
'' (Norway maple) samaras
File:Acer rubrum 1-eheep (5097479399).jpg, ''Acer rubrum
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...
'' leaves
File:Red maple.png, ''Acer rubrum
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...
'' tree in autumn
Image:Acer sempervirens leaves.jpg, ''Acer sempervirens
''Acer sempervirens'', the Cretan maple, is a species of maple native to southern Greece and southern Turkey.Med-Checklist''Acer sempervirens''/ref>
''Acer sempervirens'' is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub or small tree, one of the very fe ...
'' foliage
Image:Autumn Blaze Maple Foliage.jpg, ''Acer'' × ''freemanii'' 'Autumn Blaze' (a cross between '' A. rubrum'' and '' A. saccharinum''
See also
* List of ''Acer'' species
* List of Award of Garden Merit maples
The maples belong to the genus ''Acer'', an important group of mainly deciduous trees and shrubs in the family Sapindaceae, which are widely cultivated throughout the temperate northern hemisphere. Some, such as ''Acer griseum'', have ornamental b ...
* Mazer – a drinking vessel made from maple wood
* List of foods made from maple
Several food products are created from the sap harvested from maple trees, which is made into sugar and syrup before being incorporated into various foods and dishes. The sugar maple is one of the most important Canadian trees, being, along with ...
References
Citations
General bibliography
*
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Articles containing video clips
Plant dyes
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus