Tree identification

[Richard Gress]

Any sure fire way of identifying sugar and red maples in the winter. Fot the most part I've been lucky. Tapped a young oak in my neighbors yard the other day. How embarrasing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[happy thoughts]

On small branches look at the shape and color of the bud. Sugar maples have pointed brown buds, reds have red ones that are more rounded. Both will have opposite branching. The bark is also different between the two but can vary by the age of the tree.

[Tithis]

The opposite branching, bark and buds are your surest bets.

For opposite branching I've heard 'maple, ash and sometimes dogwood' You can easily distinguish between maple and ash by their bark (with the exception of norway which has bark much like an ash)

For sugar and red maple you can easily tell with the buds. Red looks like little clusters of balls, they have very round buds.

[Richard Gress]

What do you mean by opposite branching?

[happy thoughts]

opposite means just that- the branches and buds are directly opposite each other... as opposed to alternate meaning they are staggered from side to side.

Take a look at this simple maple tree ID guide from cornell

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

If you look at the twigs of each maple species shown, you'll see how the buds are opposite each other- one on one side, one directly opposite on the other. Opposite branching is found in maples and ashes... and dogwoods which some consider more shrub than tree. Opposite branching is one of the first things to look for when trying to ID maples. All maples have opposite branching. Then you work from there looking at other things like bud color and shape, leaves, fruit, bark, etc. to narrow it down.

Best time to ID trees is during the growing season when you have more vegetative parts to confirm the ID. You can then mark them in some way so it's easier to find them next sap season.

[northwoods_forestry]

All maples have "opposite" branches. That means two twigs come off the branch directly opposite each other (opposed to "alternate" branching in other species). In most, but not all, red maples the opposite twigs will come off the branch at nearly 90 degrees while sugar maples have more of a 45 degree angle.

For maple bark, if there are any smooth areas the size of a dinner plate or larger, it is definately a red maple, though the lack of smooth bark is not definitive for sugar maple as some red maples will lack smooth bark (I'm sure that makes a ton of sense!).

[redrob]

What will bud out first? A sugar or a Norway? I tap two different types that the bark n branch structure are a night and day difference but the leaves on both r basically identical. The 8 that r smooth barked ash looking have not yet budded. The 3 scally wild branched looking ones I noticed yesterday now have buds on them....I have always suspected these 3 to be sugars....