reds vs sugar maples

[jordy95]

how can you tell the red maples from suger maples

[DanE.]

At this time of the year look up at the twigs. The red buds will be red compared to the sugar. Someone told me a long time ago (I may have it backwards) that if you look at the trunk the sugars will have a sad face where the branches where when the tree was young. I never though of verify this. maybe someone knows this saying.

Dane.

[gdtowne]

It can depend on size, but small reds (~5"-15") often has very thin, smooth bark, which cracks into a 'thumb-print' type figure. Sugar maple bark looks slightly rougher when small, and pale gray. The bark looks very platy and flaky, and there is no real pattern to it. Reds' buds should be really visible by now, where as sugar would be very difficult to spot, and as said earlier, reds' will have a slight reddish ting to it. When the leaves come out, reds will have 'V-shaped' sinuses (area between leaf lobes), where as sugar has 'U-shaped' sinuses. Hope this helps,
Gerry

[jordy95]

is the sap darker i have some trees that the sap is redish

[red maples]

my sap is not darker its clear as water on the reds. my sugar maple sap has a slight yellow to it. making beautiful borderline light, so I have to call it medium. I tap mostly reds and just a few sugars

[Loun]

I started a new thread to ask my question sorry

[VA maple guy]

Red maples will always have some red going on. In the summer the leaf
stem will have red in it. In the fall the leaves will usully have some red .
In the winter look for reddis twigs and small buds.In the spring look for
red flowers and then small red helicopters that fly off the tree in the spring.
Red maple buds will be round shaped, and sugar maple buds will be bullet
or cone shaped with overlapping plates.
gerry

[gomish]

how can you tell the red maples from suger maples

Like other said, reds will have red buds. this tiime of the year (at least here in central PA) the buds will be really red and fat and round, and sugars will be brown and sharp. For a good picture visit www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/factsheets.cfm - and type MAPLE in
the "common name" box. Red's bark is more flakey also, sugars is more solid.

[heus]

At least in my neck of the woods, sugars often have some kind of lichens or fungus growing on the bark. Never seen a red with this same coating.

[MapleOak]

is the sap darker i have some trees that the sap is redish

I was speaking with someone about how far to drill my tap holes... he said if you drill to deep your sap will be dark because it is in heart wood... the other guy sitting there also said that the heart wood isn't always deep in the tree... not sure if that is true or not... but this might be the reason for darker sap

[northwoods_forestry]

Two additional things to look for when differentiating reds from sugars are twig structure and bark. Fine twig branching on red maples tends to be around 90 degrees while sugar maples tend towards 45 degrees. Bark on older sugar maples is always rough, with no large smooth patches. If there are smooth areas the size of a dinner plate or larger on the bole, it is most likely a red. Keep in mind that rough bark is not definitive as some reds will have all rough bark too, but smooth patches are almost always definitive.

[heus]

I have always been fascinated by how trees of the same species can vary from one to another. They each have their own "personalities."