How can I identify Maples in CT in winter?

[TapTapTap]

From the beginning of this discussion I have opined that:

1. It's hard to tell from photos of bark
2. If it has opposite twigs that it is either maple or ash and that it's pretty easy to tell those two apart.
3. If those photos were trees with opposite twigs then I would say they are maples rather than ash.

Then I was slammed for misleading people.

Andy - thanks for your response on the Norways. I've heard that there is a concern for them crowding out our native maples up here in Northwestern Vermont.

And I was actually in Granville Gulch (I mean GULF) today on my bicycle. I saw plenty of maples.

Ken

[Sugar Bear]

From the beginning of this discussion I have opined that:

1. It's hard to tell from photos of bark
2. If it has opposite twigs that it is either maple or ash and that it's pretty easy to tell those two apart.
3. If those photos were trees with opposite twigs then I would say they are maples rather than ash.

Then I was slammed for misleading people.

Andy - thanks for your response on the Norways. I've heard that there is a concern for them crowding out our native maples up here in Northwestern Vermont.

And I was actually in Granville Gulch (I mean GULF) today on my bicycle. I saw plenty of maples.

Ken

Ken

Did not mean to slam you. But was VERY confident from the photos by the OP that those were Red and some White oak. One or two of the photos looked possible but that is it.

Yes, plenty of indigenous maples in the gulch but, did you see any Norwegian maples in the Gulch? I never have seen a one, although there is a sizable stand of what I believe to be Norwegian Spruce on the north side of the Gulch. Have dreams about getting those spruce on my mill someday as they technically are a invasive species

I suspect the OP taped the oaks, it was his first and only year maple sugaring and then moved to Arizona where he took up cactus taping making cactus juice.

If it has thorns, it's a cactus, so things are simple there, I guess.

[Sugar Bear]

I agree that you wouldn't see much for Norway' along I89 and believe you about that stretch of 100. Definitely true that they're more common the more urban you go. It is interesting how they jump out at you huh? Last summer I was really struggling to tell the difference. Now I can't unsee the difference. I still don't trust myself to ID any tree in winter though, and I'm pretty sure I'll never ID leafless trees in pictures on the web.

Comparing sugar maple to Norway maple was my primary sugaring goal this year, so I largely kept them separate, for the curiosity. Why? Well, basically because it seemed no one has really studied that yet. I'm planning to post a post with all the data soon, but yep, splattering! I was able to minimize this at least enough to not end up in the hospital by doing the final boil ridiculously slow and as much stirring as practical. There was also a ton of niter. But the final syrup was excellent, and just about a grade lighter than the sugar maple throughout the whole season except the end where the opposite was true. The color was a big surprise; I would have bet a lot of money on the opposite. I suspect in a continuous flow pan the spattering would be much less of a problem, but the excessive niter would give pause to doing that. I recommend Norway highly to urban sugarers, for trees that already exist (definitely don't allow any new trees to start). Expect half the sap at best versus sugar maple, but my sugar content was about 1.8% at the beginning and end of the season, and presumably better in the middle (forgot to measure), which I think isn't too shabby since silvers are shamelessly tapped and at least get reported to be lower content than that. (For 2023 I'm shamelessly adding at least one giant silver to the mix).

Yes, boiling pure Norwegian sap comes back to me as downright dangerous some 31 years ago.

But I have several Norwegians available to me and have been thinking of giving them a go next year but curious about your results with making syrup from them.

I tapped some silvers in 2021 and got some decent output from these taps on gravity to buckets. Similar to Sugars in flow and a decent sugar content. Have several multi trunk silver beasts that I would like to get taps in next year.

Added 25 Reds this year with pump and good slope and did well with them and syrup quality remained excellent.

So now I am getting drawn back to the Norwegian sap. Could be a mistake.

[DrTimPerkins]

...there is a sizable stand of what I believe to be Norwegian Spruce on the north side of the Gulch. Have dreams about getting those spruce on my mill someday as they technically are a invasive species

Yes, those are Norway spruce in the Gulch, along with a good bunch of red spruce. Back in the early-80s we field research in that area comparing decline disease (acid rain) damage on Norway vs red spruce. A German grad student and a tech would climb them to collect branches from the upper crown for analysis. Not my cup of tea. I preferred to use a shotgun loaded with 3" nitro mag steel shot to get my samples.

[Sugar Bear]

Yes, those are Norway spruce in the Gulch, along with a good bunch of red spruce. Back in the early-80s we field research in that area comparing decline disease (acid rain) damage on Norway vs red spruce. A German grad student and a tech would climb them to collect branches from the upper crown for analysis. Not my cup of tea. I preferred to use a shotgun loaded with 3" nitro mag steel shot to get my samples.

That is interesting.

Any thoughts about whether Road Salt is a factor on those such trees? As well as the AR impact. Back in the early 80's they did not dump so much salt. But today the public works facilities seem to start salting today for the storm that is going to come next winter. Down here, a lot of people blame that for some of the roadside mortality of trees.

Seems like the Red Spruce have not fared as well as those Norwegians Spruce over the years in the Gulch. But last I looked at them even the Norwegians seemed a bit haggardly at that spot. I do still notice some hefty healthy Red Spruce when I hike up the ridges away from the road in the Gulch.

The White Pine seem to be unaffected by the current state of things. I know of one just up the Gulch that could well break the 150' marker.

Down here the Norwegian Maples also seem so prolific and unaffected by the situation, while the Sugars seem to struggle.

Very badly needed 1 inch of rain falling here now.

[Andy VT]

This thread has got a lot of threads!
I found a thread entitled "Finishing Syrup - Popping And Banging" that might shed some light on that topic. Gives me some things to try next year! I did have a habit of leaving near-syrup (nearup?) in my boiling pot (8 quart stockpot) overnight or even for days in the fridge and then eventually plopping it on the stove and heating it up. Sounds like that might be a recipe for popping, especially with a high-niter sap.
Andy