Sugar maple or another maple

[They Call Me Pete]

I always though this was a sugar maple but I was thumbing through a tree ID book and it described it differently :confused: Maybe I've been wrong all along :o Can ya tell I'm a noob :lol:

[adk1]

Pretty much impossible to tell with that pic. need to get a closeup of the buds.

[They Call Me Pete]

Here's some close ups. Stinking thing snapped off while trying to get a close up picture :mad:

[adk1]

still cant tell, you need to take it in better resolution and closer to the buds. yo ucan email it to me if you woudl like

[gmcooper]

Very hard to see much as the photos I'm seeing are very small. The first twig pic doesn't look like maple as I do not see paired branching. Looks more like alternate but very hard to see.

[They Call Me Pete]

They are alternate. I'm assuming sugars are paired. Ihttp://i53.tinypic.com/sy008h.jpg

[Toblerone]

If they are alternate, then it is not a maple of any sorts. Sometimes an opposite branching can look alternate if opposite twigs broke off or branches didn't develop. But an alternate branching shouldn't ever look opposite. So check other places on the tree to see if any are opposite. If none are, then this tree is not a maple.

The bark of the tree can be a dead giveaway too, although sometimes I confuse the bark of bitternut hickory with a maple. So a closeup post of the bark would help identify this tree too.

[adk1]

To me the buds look liek a sugar maple. the stem should be brownish with dark brown/black buds.

[Frank Ivy]

Clearly opposite - in my neck of the woods, that's either Ash or Maple. If it's maple, the terminal bud looks sugar, not red.

To tell if it's maple or ash, just look at the tree - if the ends of branches are thin and dense, then it's maple. If the ends of trees are thick and sparse, then it's ash. The reason for that is maples have small leaves, and so the terminal twigs are dense to get full coverage. Ash trees, on the other hand, have must larger leaves, and so the terminal twigs are relatively far apart from each other.

[They Call Me Pete]

OK went for a walk with the kids around the property. The twigs are paired. The one I took a pic of was the lowest one but when I looked up into the canopy I could see clearly they were paired with sometimes a random twig in between the pairs. The bark is on the smooth side and looks like it's flaking off.

Frank Ivy, I no what the ash looks like and not one and I though I knew a sugar but after thumbing through a book started me second guessing myself.

[ADKMAPLE]

well, I think we have concluded that it is a maple, based on the bid and the bark in that one pic is definatly not ash

[stoweski]

Tough to tell but the bark in the first picture looks like that of a red maple.

[They Call Me Pete]

Don't know how to delete a post

[Frank Ivy]

If you have long, vertical sections of bark that look like they're "peeling," then it 100% certain you have a sugar maple (or black maple).

[They Call Me Pete]

You are correct sir. What ever the hell it is I tapping it !!!!:lol:
Bark - on young trees, dark gray in color, close, smooth, and firm, becoming furrowed into long irregular plates lifting along one edge. This hits the nail on the head for the black maple Thanks again guys

[stoweski]

Black maple:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_blk.htm

Red maple:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_red.htm

Sugar maple:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_sug.htm

Study up fellas, it's tappin' time!!!

[Dan Shea]

Now don't forget those Norways! I tapped one last year and it ran like a stuck pig. Sure, no sugar in there -- but man did it run. Honestly, upwards of 4 drips a second.

On a more serious note, has anyone ever checked the sugar content of Norways? Low, sure. But how low?

Thanks. DS

[maple flats]

Sorry, I haven't checked a Norway, I have none.
On the sugar Maple ID, If the limbs are directly opposite (look for the twigs in the upper canopy since many are broken off in the bigger parts) you have a maple, If the buds this time of year come to a sharp point it is Sugar Maple. The bark looks vastly different in each stage of life. A young sugar has almost a uniform tecture to it somewhat like sand paper and often has a slightly golden hue to it, but as the tree matures it gradually changes, loosing theat look at about 10-12" and gradually going to the big vertical "peals" that a mature sugar has. Once you have identified enough you can also see a limb growth pattern, that often help you know which ones you want a closer look at to be sure.

[ADKMAPLE]

if its a maple other than boxelder, I will tap it