Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum

Shade, syrup and fall color are worth the wait for this medium to slow growing native.  Fall foliage of yellow orange and red.  Mature height 60’ -100’.

Male flowers have some pollen, female flowers have neither pollen or nectar, in April – May.

Grows in Partial Sun/Sun/Shade. Prefers moist deep, fertile soil.

Native to Eastern US and native habitats are Moist bottomlands; rich, wooded slopes

Sugar maples support many native animals, birds and insects.  Deer and porcupines rely on it for food.  Moose and snowshoe hares browse on the twigs and foliage.  Red and grey squirrels, chipmunks and flying squirrels feed on its seeds, buds, twigs, and leaves.

Several insect species and honeybees use the early-produced pollen. The Sugar Maple is a caterpillar host for the Cecropia Silkmoth and the Rosy Maple Moth.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers use Sugar Maples as a source of sap.

Sugar Maples are also important for birds, both year-round residents and summer migrants. Gamebirds. and song birds: including the Ruffed Grouse and Wild Turkey.  Songbirds include Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, and Red-breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak.  A number of birds build nests in Sugar Maples, including American Redstart, Black-capped Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, Least Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo.  For several species –Mourning Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper Hermit Thrush, and Hairy Woodpecker– the Sugar Maple is one of the preferred trees for foraging for insects.

18-32″ 3 year old bareroot seedlings,  $10 for 5