Tree identification

[super sappy]

Can someone recommend a good tree ID book. I have the petersons book of eastern trees but I am looking for something better. I am thinking that I have alot of black maple around here. It is hard to tell with black and white drawings and sketches. My logger neighbor says that they are just plain "hard maple". Petersons has no listing for a "hard maple"I did a google search and got some info but nothing concrete.Any Black maple information will be helpful. Thanks Super Sappy

[maple flats]

Do you have the North American Maple Producer's Manual?

[rschoo]

Hey Sappy check out this site.
http://forestry.msu.edu/extension/ExtDocs/idents.htm

[cncaboose]

Hi, Sappy,
There's no such species as a "hard maple". Hard maples include sugar, black and possibly others. If you want definitive info on trees check this site out. The info on sugar maple biology is fascinating. www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/table_of_contents.htm

[HanginAround]

I heard that not only are Blacks and Sugars very closely related, but are know to hybridize with each other, and places where both are common, sometimes cannot be identified positively easily.

No worries here, no Black maples at all I don't think.

[mapleman9000]

Here is the publisher information for a book that was required for me to buy for my schooling. I think I had to buy it for a field botany test, but here is the citation for it:

Harlow WM. 1957. Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and
Canada. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

To make it easier, Trees of the Eastern and Central United States, by Harlow. It is fairly old, but trees don't change much in 50 years. There are pictures of most of the species, but they are black and white. It is a field guide (so it is small), and is relatively inexpensive. I like it a lot.

[mapleman9000]

And, just so you know, I too have had questions about identifieing black maple, and have been told that it is relatively rare in most of New York and they do regularly hybridize. Still a hard maple and good to tap.

[maple flats]

The new addition of the North American maple Syrup Producers Manual shows excellent high quality glossy pictures of all of the common maple trees that are commercially tapped and a few that are non commercially tapped.