What images come to mind when you hear the word autumn? Pumpkins? Acorns? Beautiful colors?
Trees come alive with shades of green, yellow, orange, red and brown this time of year. There is arguably no tree that adds more color than the maple. While they add awesome color to fall, there’s so much more to maples. Let’s learn about what makes these trees so marvelous.
Tree ID
Before we begin, it’s important to know exactly which trees we are talking about. You might have seen the shape of the maple leaf even if you don’t know the shape is a maple. Have you seen a Canadian flag? That red leaf is a maple leaf. The label on your favorite brand of pancake syrup? Maple leaf. Roughly speaking, it’s a leaf the shape of your hand or, as scientists say, “palmate.”
Even more recognizable than their leaves might be the fruits. “Helicopters,” “whirlybirds” or samaras, as they are officially called, twirl down from trees and line sidewalks. Have you ever thrown up these samaras and watched as they fall? Then you might have played a role in pollination and not even known it!
Maple leaves grow in an opposite pattern. This means that leaves sit directly across from one another on the branch. Spread your arms out. Are they directly across from each other on your body? Same idea!
In the fall, the bright green spring and summer leaves turn all shades of yellow, orange, red and even a mixture of all three. Depending on the species, these fall leaves are either one solid color or a spectrum of shades.
Words to know
Hydraulic: Related to liquid moving in a confined space under pressure.
Palmate: Having several lobes whose midribs all radiate from one point.
Populous: Having a large population.
Spectrum: Used to classify something in terms of its position on a scale between two opposite or extreme points.
Susceptible: Likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.
Where are your favorite places to go leaf peeping? Luckily, maples are populous plants that can be found in many places.
Of course, a maple is not just a maple! There are more than 130 species of maples native to different parts of the world. Here’s a few you might begin noticing on a nice fall day here in Will County.
Silver maple
Silver maples are one of the most common trees in the country. They are large trees, standing at a mature height of 50 feet to 70 feet tall. That’s about as tall as a six-story building! And it might be difficult to hug this fully grown tree because the width of this plant can be up to 50 feet. (But you can try!)
How do you know you’re looking at a silver maple? Wait for the wind. Do the undersides of the leaves look like they are silver as they bend in the breeze? Does the bark have a silver or gray tint to it? If you answered yes, then it’s most likely a silver maple. In the fall, these leaves are a bold red or yellow.
These trees have leaves measuring on average 4 inches long and 3 inches wide with deep angular notches and thin lobes. Another way to remember is using the name. “Silver” is almost the same word as “sliver,” which is a tiny piece. Compared to other maples, there is just a sliver of lobe between the notches.
For the last half century, the silver maple has been one of the most popular trees planted in neighborhoods. So if you go on a walk around the block these might just be the ones you see!
Sugar maple
The sugar maple is a large tree, growing from 80 feet to 115 feet tall. And as you might have guessed, they are the species sought out for sweet sap used to make maple syrup. Most maple species are able to produce sap, but only sugar maples make enough for humans to make syrup.
Sugar maples also have some of the best fall colors! Their leaves turn all shades of yellow, orange and orange-red, and they are known to color unevenly, meaning one tree could have sections with each of these colors. Wow!
Aside from color, you can identify sugar maples by the size of their leaves. They can measure about 8 inches both tall and wide. That’s a little bigger than your stretched out fingers! The notches in between each lobe, or “finger,” of the maple leaf are round compared to the silver maple. And the lobes are much wider.
Aside from growing naturally, sugar maples were planted in many cities and parks in the 1800s because they grow fast and add a lot of color to cities. However, sugar maples are very susceptible to the negative impacts of pollution and have been replaced by the silver maple and other species in urban and suburban areas.
Box elder
The box elder is a little different than the rest of its family; it does not grow as tall, it has multiple trunks and the leaves are not palmate or hand shaped.
Unlike sugar maples, whose height could rival a skyscraper, the box elder is only about 30 feet to 80 feet tall. Since they cannot compete at the tallest level for sunlight, they grow multiple trunks and branches that grow at weird angles to reach whatever sun they can.
Unlike other maples, box elders have compound leaves that usually have three to seven leaflets. This means instead of one big leaf, the stem of the leaf is connected to multiple mini-leaves, or leaflets. Leaves on younger trees often get mistaken for poison ivy because they are similar in shape. One way to tell the difference: Box elder leaflets grow in an opposite branching pattern while poison ivy leaves are alternating.
Friends to the forest
Many maple trees are marvelous not only for their beautiful fall colors, but their role in their habitats. Insects like the box elder bug and rosy maple moth lay their eggs in bark crevices and on leaves. Tree trunks have cavities that are homes to critters like raccoons, opossums, owls and woodpeckers. Birds and squirrels munch on leaf buds. Chipmunks chew on seeds.
Sugar maples also practice hydraulic lift. This species has deeper roots than most maples, allowing it to bring water up from farther down in the ground. This benefits not only the tree itself, but the plants growing around it.
Maples in the marketplace
Even when you are not in the forest, you are still surrounded by maples! Box elders are used in wood pulp. Sugar maple wood is used in bowling pins, alley lanes, baseball bats, basketball courts and pool cues. Do you play an instrument? Maple is considered a tone wood, which is a wood that carries sound waves well. The back, sides and neck of most violins, violas and cellos, as well as electric guitar necks, are maple. When you sit at your kitchen table, remember the humble silver maple, whose wood is used in furniture, cabinets, flooring, tool handles and more.
Whether you are enjoying a walk around your neighborhood or leaf peeping in a preserve, remember the maples, which are marvelous in so many ways.
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