Black Maple

[OneLegJohn]

I am curious if the black maple with grow in Ohio. I'm curious how the foilage looks in the fall. I understand they are common in Vermont and they produce more sugar than the sugar maples. Are they commercially available to plant for the next generation?

[VTwoodsbum]

"rock maple" what I have always called it. I have a few in my bush and in the family woodlot. They fetch a good premium up here as a veener tree. I don't know if they are avalible at nurseries; but I got a few trees that have seeded out.

[maple flats]

If I remember the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual shows some Black maples into Ohio.
For years it was thought Black and Sugar maples were one and the same. Eventually it was determined they were different. What I read was that they both have similar sugar %. If you want to plant for future generations look into super sweet trees. They have some sugar maples that run something like 5-8% sugar. I think they were arrived at be selective breeding over a period of time, crossing the ones with the highest % until they made a super race.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

If I remember the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual shows some Black maples into Ohio.
For years it was thought Black and Sugar maples were one and the same. Eventually it was determined they were different. What I read was that they both have similar sugar %. If you want to plant for future generations look into super sweet trees. They have some sugar maples that run something like 5-8% sugar. I think they were arrived at be selective breeding over a period of time, crossing the ones with the highest % until they made a super race.

i thought those were the silver maples, some one else was talking about a silver maple hybrid that can be tapped in like 15years and sugar content is around 5 or 6 %. dON'T KNOW IF THEY GROW IN oh BUT WOULD THINK(dam caps button) they would.

[TreeTapper2]

"i thought those were the silver maples, some one else was talking about a silver maple hybrid that can be tapped in like 15years and sugar content is around 5 or 6 %. dON'T KNOW IF THEY GROW IN oh BUT WOULD THINK(dam caps button) they would."

Anyone know of this silver maple hybrid? Who sells it? Web link maybe. I had it once but lost it
Thanks

[Loch Muller]

St. Lawrence Nurseries in Postdam, NY sells silver maples that are 4-5% sugar content if I remember right. I can't find their catalog right now and they don't have one on the web, but the trees were a little pricey really. $15 per tree I think. They sell really good planting stock, I've planted several fruit trees from them with great success. An RO might be cheaper and more effective... http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/

[MidMichMaple]

I have one large black maple that has been my only decent producer during this cold weather (I only tap 5 trees). I don't measure sugar content of sap, but I got a quart of syrup from less than 10 gallons of sap and almost all of the sap was from that black maple.

Due to the deer population around me, no saplings from that tree seem to survive. I gathered some seeds last fall and planted them. Hoping that I can nurse those and "repopulate" some black maples around my property.

To the original question about fall foliage from black maples, it is generally less spectacular than sugar maples. You will usually get a dull yellow. In a good year, maybe orange/yellow.

I have not seen black maples available from nurseries anywhere, except some nursery in Minnesota that I found online once. Have no idea what it was.

[Sugarmaker]

Nate,
I found black maple leaves in the sugarbush behind our house. That woods is now been timbered for blocking. I would say there was 80% reds 15% sugar and a few black maples. I believe the leaf shape is slightly different than a sugar. These black maple leafs are more like the sugar maple, not the deep cleft silvers.
I see no reason why you would not have some of these in the gravel soil in some parts of Ohio.
Regards,
Chris

[Michael Greer]

Could someone post some pictures of a Black Maple? Here in northern New York, we have two distinct types of Sugar Maple, one with very tightly angled branches, and one with all the branches coming off at a right angle, and then arcing up. I haven't heard anyone call them by any name but Sugar Maple.

[happy thoughts]

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

I've never read about a difference in branch angle. From what I've read black and sugars can hybridize making ID even harder. They are both hard maples and sugar content should be similar. Some sources consider blacks to be a subspecies of sugars. The ones I consider blacks here have drooping leaves as pictured in the link above.

[MidMichMaple]

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

I've never read about a difference in branch angle. From what I've read black and sugars can hybridize making ID even harder. They are both hard maples and sugar content should be similar. Some sources consider blacks to be a subspecies of sugars. The ones I consider blacks here have drooping leaves as pictured in the link above.

Drooping leaves are one big thing to look for. The leaves also usually have three lobes instead of 5, but that can vary. The one on my property has some leaves with three lobes and some with 5 that look very much like the leaves of a sugar. That tree could even be a hybrid, for all I know.

In the pic I took below, the yellow tree in the foreground is a black maple. This is what they tend to look like in the fall. Sorry that it's not a close up, but you can sorta make out the droopy leaves.

The pics in this link are also a good example of black maple: http://plantplaces.com/perl/viewplantdetails.pl?filter=plant&plant_ID=1154&Region=&fullname=Acer%20nigrum%20%20Black%20Maple

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l487/vboon26/0BC04C87-56E2-47E4-AC75-DD59A1F3BAA8-2674-0000053FC9CF441F_zpsdca68d5f.jpg

[happy thoughts]

Thanks for the pic. Fall color looks about the same as mine. Mine tend to change color and drop leaves early which I've read is another sign. All mine are 5 lobed but the droopy leaves are what makes me think they are blacks. It almost looks like they are wilted and when I first saw them thought they might be diseased but the ones I tap are my best producing trees. Though they are not very common in my state, where I live is within part of their native range. I've read they are more prone to hybridization in the Northeast than in their western range.