BEAUTIFUL MAPLES

     Native silver, red and sugar maple trees are planted on many lawns in the United States and Canada because of their handsome shapes, cooling shade in summer and strikingly colored foliage in autumn.

     These beautiful maples have characteristics in common, which demonstrates their relatedness.  They have deeply-lobed leaves and paired, winged seeds that spin away on the wind when mature.  Some of those dispersed seeds sprout into new seedling trees, away from the parent trees.  All have sweet sap that can be collected and boiled down to syrup.  And larger trees of all species have variably-sized cavities where wind tore limbs from them.  

     But these maples have differences, too.  Silver maples have more open canopies and bark that flakes off easily.  Red maple bark is smooth, except on older individuals.  And sugar maples have vertically ridged bark that doesn't break off.

     Each of these attractive kinds of maples has adapted to a different habitat than its relatives, which made the different species.  Silver maples adjusted to floodplains along creeks and rivers, Red maples adapted to moist bottomland soil, where they dominate bottomland woods.  Sugar maples, however, occupy well-drained soil on higher ground. 

     Each of these lovely types of maples evolved unique features that help set them apart as species.  Silver maples have dull-red and yellow flowers by early March and large, winged seeds late in spring.  By early April, red maples have bright-red blooms.  Canopies of whole bottomland woods are red with innumerable red maple blossoms during April.  The small seeds of red maples mature by early summer, and are beautifully bright red, adding more warm color to woods and suburbs.  Sugar maples have two percent sugar in their clear, watery sap, while other maples only have one percent sugar.

     Larger trees of these maple species have many hollows.  These cavities are homes and nurseries to barred, barn and screech owls, American kestrels, wood ducks, chickadees, eastern bluebirds, raccoons, squirrels, honey bees, and other creatures that enhance the beauties and intrigues of these trees.  

     Parts of these maples are consumed by certain wildlife.  White-tailed deer ingest their leaves, twigs and buds.  Rodents consume many of their winged seeds.  And beavers eat twigs, leaves and bark, and use the boughs to build dams, and homes in the ponds they created with the dams. 

     Warm-colored leaves of these maples add much beauty to woods and suburbs in fall, brightening those habitats.  Silver maples have yellow foliage, while red maple leaves are red.  And the unique orange of sugar maple foliage is truly striking.  And all these lovely, colored leaves seem to glow from within on gloomy and rainy days.   

     These maples have several practical and esthetic values to people, and they are beneficial to wildlife.  And I think they are most lovely in autumn when their leaves turn to yellow, red or orange, inspiring many of us with their beauties.       

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