I would like to lobby for the sugar maple tree. The sugar maple is often referred to as the hard maple or the rock maple. The hard wood of the sugar maple is often used in flooring. In Philadelphia, there was a store that had a maple floor and a marble floor laid at the same time, and although it is hard to believe, the marble floor wore out before the maple floor. Unlike most woods, the more maple wood is used the smoother it becomes. To prove this, just rub your hand over an old-fashioned rolling pin, one that a grandmother once used to roll out lots of cookies and pie dough.
In the fall, the sugar maple is famous for its brilliant foliage, leaves of the clearest yellow, richest crimson, scarlet, orange, and yellow over-painted with red. The fall foliage of the sugar maple tree seems to out do the other trees in the woods. Botanists tell us that the glory of the maple's fall colors is due in part to the sweetness of the sap and partially from the acidity of the soil.
Conjure up a picture in your mind of a New England town, and surely, a sugar maple tree will be in this picture. Not only small New England towns have streets lined with maple trees, here, in northern Pennsylvania, they are a common sight along our streets.
At one time, the Town of Troy had maple trees lining Elmira Street. During the summer when the maples’ leafed branches met in the middle of the street, it appeared as a maple tunnel. Unfortunately, most of these old trees were becoming hollow and losing dead limbs, and through the years, many have been cut down. The sugar maple is far less demanding of water and less injured by disturbance to its roots, where pipes and drains are laid, than many other trees. Unfortunately, the sugar maple suffers from city smoke and industrial gases and therefore is not a tree for our bigger cities.
A sugar maple growing in our forests could reach a height of over 120 feet. You might have to look half way up a sugar maple tree’s trunk before seeing the first branch. This feature is what makes the lumber ideal for making furniture. However, when maple trees grow in our yards, without competition from other trees, the lower branches are much closer to the ground, making ideal trees for kids to climb.
Those that are interested in antiques know that a piece of furniture made from bird's eye maple is quite a find. Bird's eye maple has a distinct wood grain, consisting of spots about 1/8th of an inch across the grain. These spots are said to resemble a bird's eye. To obtain bird's eye maple, a special method of sawing, which is known as tangent or plain sawing, must be done. This bird's eye is not found in any other type of wood. Most of the bird's eye maple comes from the Northern Peninsula of Michigan.
There is also the curly maple that gives off a beautiful effect of light and shade. It is said that the grain is curly or arranged in regular waves. The curly maple, which is highly prized, is used in furniture, violin backs and gun stocks. When curly maple is used in making backs of violins, the wood is then known as fiddle back. Unlike the bird's eye grain, the curly grain is found in other kinds of wood.
Of course, we cannot forget about maple syrup. The sugar maple has the sweetest and most prolific sap of any tree. The amount of sap a tree can produce depends on several things: method of tapping; size of the tree; weather; age of tree; soil type and if tree has a southern exposure. During the tapping season, five to forty gallons of sap can be taken from each tree. Approximately 32 gallons of sap are needed to make either one gallon of syrup or 4 1/4 pounds of sugar.
Maple syrup and honey are the only sweeteners containing the bone-building phosphates that cause calcium retention. The maples belong to the family Acer and the sugar maple is classified as Acer saccharum. Acer is the classical Latin name of the maples from the Celtic meaning hard. The specific name sacchaum means sweet or sugary referring to the sap. (Even the Latin name sounds sweet.)
The fruits of the maples are the winged seeds that are known as keys. Usually, the fruit grows in pairs, with the wings on each side of the seed. The winged seeds, which do not mature until Autumn, fall from the tree when ripe. When blown by the wind, the winged seeds go flying through the air, appearing as spinning airplane propellers. These seeds, are a favorite food of the chipmunk.