Black maple VS. Sugar maple

[VanderBie Farms]

Hello, I am wondering who has experience tapping black maple trees and how the sugar compares to sugar maple. I have both on my property and I am wondering how productive they are. My sugar maples are excellent producers dispite being overtapped by the previous owner, but the blacks appear untouched.

[claystroup]

I have one black maple out of 110 total taps and it is by far my biggest producer. Have not checked its sugar content individually. I would tap them in a minute if I was you.

[Russell Lampron]

From what I've read black maples are very similar to sugar maples as far as sugar content and production is concerned. When it comes to maple trees it's more desirable than reds or silvers. A lot of people on here tap reds and silvers myself included. Most of my taps are reds and produce an excellent flavored syrup. Tap them!

[MapleMark753]

We have sugar maples, black maples, and what look like hybrid sugar/black maples. For us they are basically interchangable, with similar sugar content, and volume of sap. Black maples make fine syrup, and are not fickle sap producers like our silver maples are. I would not hesitate to tap black maples. When we boil black maple sap separately, some can taste a slight difference in flavor (some can't), but that might be to different soil, sun exposure, etc... good luck!

[Ultimatetreehugger]

Speaking of black maples, does anyone know where you can buy some in vt? Looking for a landscape project.

[maple flats]

If you look in the North American Maple Syrup Producer's Manual for the areas where black maples grow, I think they are farther west than Vt, however they may do OK there if planted. I don't know. We used to have 1 black but it died, I suspect it was planted, not native. It was however mature when it died.

[Ultimatetreehugger]

Thanks for that tip. I've seen a few around town that I'm sure were planted. I want to try because I love the look of them.

[Revi]

Black Maple grows in the extreme northwest side of Vermont, so it may do okay there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_nigrum#/media/File:Acer_nigrum_range_map_1.png

[amasonry]

I tap about 6 black maples 2.5' around, my sugar content only 1.1 to 1.5 they are in thick woods with, not a big canopy. I think they produce about the same as reds. I am a little off the map though.

[minehart gap]

I tapped my first Black Maple last season and it was by far my best tree. My average sugar content for the season on a crowded woods with too much rain the year before we 1.1% but that one Black Maple gave 6%+ every time that I checked it. I'm not positive but I feel confident saying that it gave twice the sap as other trees as well. I had the tap pop out twice and both times the sap was flowing, not dripping, out of the hole.

That tree and all other Black Maples on my property will be tapped next season. To be honest, that's not really saying much as I plan to tap every maple on my property that I can next season.

[220 maple]

In our area Black Maple is the Sweetest tree, however they can fool you, what I thought was a black maple was a sugar and thirty feet away what I thought was a Sugar was a black maple, Tim Wilmot was at my camp 3 to 4 years ago doing a 3/16 tubing seminar, he got me straighten out, I was completely fooled by the black bark, Black bark tree had typical sugar maple leaves, the gray bark tree had the black maple leaves.
Before Tim left West Virginia I when into my woods and found a sapling, dug it up and gave it to him to take home to Vermont, hopefully it was a Black Maple, had the leaf pattern of a Black maple.

Mark 220 Maple

[Ed R]

I have had issues differentiating between sugar maples and black maples as 220 maple stated above in the summer with the leaves on let alone during the time we tap. To the original poster, are you sure these are not silvers or reds that the previous owners did not tap? In the past both have been looked down on by Michiganders and not tapped, even when they are only 10 feet away from a sugar, I have been guilty of this as well.

[VanderBie Farms]

I'm sure its a black, good leaf id. I don't have any reds or silver on my bush but they grow locally. For years I tapped mountain and red maple as it was all I had access to, they make a darker syrup but absolutely good stuff. When we bought our new house I was delighted to see the big sugar maples and I have since id'd a couple black's. I will tap them for sure.