Confused maple

[3rdgen.maple]

I got into a discussion about a maple tree with a double trunk with my dad today. The debate "that tree is a hard maple dad" " no son it is a soft maple" Well we both won one trunk is a soft maple (red) the other a hard maple (sugar). Anyone have a tree like that? Kids decided to call it a medium maple cause it was confused.

[KenWP]

Got a couple trees like that here also. My trees are confused anyways. I had to go check some of the trees I tapped just to figure out what they actually were. I have black maples also which are hard maples with soft leaves if that makes sense.

[Oaknut]

I don't have any confused maples, but I do have a few jack maples. I tap them every year but they never yield JACK!

[red maples]

I think we all have those, I know I got 3 or 4 of those last year!!!

[maplecrest]

was looking at a new woods yesterday and came across a elm/sugar maple combo at least 100 years old the elm survived the loss of all the other elm in this area

[sapman]

I know of at least one sugar maple-basswood combo in my woods. Both trees are probably 16" or so.

Tim

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have one that is a maple and a poplar growing out of the same stump!

[220 maple]

Confused Maple
I have two different Sugars that grew touching Oak trees, One with a White Oak the other with a Red Oak. I got to tell you all my favorite story about a confused Maple Tapper. My dad before he passed away in the fall of 2002 was a tremendous woodsman. He knew every tree by just looking at the bark on them. We started making syrup in the spring of 98. The spring of 2000 I put in more pipe line and tubing further up the mountain on are property. I went and flagged the trees the summer before when they had leaves. I found one tree that did not have normal Sugar tree bark, but sure enough it had maple leaves. I ran tubing to it, its a large sugar tree with three taps. Maple season comes and Dad and myself came thru that area tapping trees. When we came to that tree he wanted to know why I had put tubing on that tree It's not a sugar maple. I said dad drill the tree, low and behold it was not running that day, he shook his head, and headed to the next tree, I always unplugged the trees each spring, I doubled checked, it had sprouted Maple buds and leaves. The spring of 2001 dad and I are going thru tapping the trees. He comes to the same tree again this time he wants to know why I didn't take the tubing down and move it to a sugar tree, Again I said Dad drill the tree. He did and amazing the water poured. He looked that tree up and down then shook his head again and headed to the next tree. I was pretty proud of myself until a couple years ago thats when I found another tree within fifty yards of that sugar that had the main line touching it and I missed it. It was big enough for two taps.
Two confused Maple Tappers.

Mark 220 Maple

[Mac]

Confused Maple
Could it be a Norway maple? The bark on em looks a lot like an ASH... and I mean alot... but they generally have a large deep dark green leaf? They do produce.

[220 maple]

Mac
The two trees in question are Sugars they both are forest trees, they look like sugars where there is branches, but in the tapping zones they could pass for something else. They are prime examples why I always scout new areas and tie ribbons around trees when the leaves are on.

Mark 220 Maple

[red maples]

I have a very large white pine and about 30 feet up, the trunk splits into 2 branches almost perfectly. and there is a red maple with about a 2 inch diameter trunck and is about 10-12 ft tall I think is hard to judge from the ground. and I found a group of reds 4 all coming out of the same stump all that I have tapped last year with a smaller what I just assumed was a red nver paid much attention because it wasn't tapable, growing out of the center but its a black birch. seeds endup in strange places take root and grow I guess.