Scientific Name: Acer saccharinum
Common Names: Silver maple, white maple, soft maple
Native or invasive: Native
Deciduous or Evergreen: Deciduous
Image of the tree you are viewing:
Condition and age guess of the tree you are viewing: e.g.,Healthy, 50 years
Branch Structure: Maples are unique from many other deciduous trees in that they form buds in pairs and have opposite branches (branches come out at the same point on the parent branch on opposite sides),
Typical height and width at maturity: 50-80 ft tall by 35-70 ft wide
Typical longevity: 200 years, rarely to 600 years
Soil, water, sunlight preferences: Well-drained soils to wet soils, can tolerate wet sites and occasional flooding or droughts. Full sun to part sun.
Growth habit of roots: The root system is shallow and fibrous. The deepest roots of 35-year-old silver maples planted on clay soil in North Dakota were 55 inches (139.7 cm). The longest roots extended horizontally 49 feet (14.9 m) https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/acesah/all.html#:~:text=The%20root%20system%20is%20shallow,mm)%20wide%20%5B10%5D.
Images of trunk bark at early stage and mature stage: Bark has attractive gray to dark brown bark that as the tree matures develops a shaggy appearance as the bark develops long, thin, flaky scales that exfoliate at the ends.
Images of mature tree: winter and summer
Image of leaf or leaves on a 12 x 12 inch grid: Leaves are simple and opposite, the blade up to 6½ inches long and as wide but typically smaller, on a stalk half to as long as the blade. The edges are coarsely toothed. Leaves turn yellow in fall. The bottom side of the leaf is white or “silver” which gives the tree its name, on a windy day the leaf bottom sides are more visible.
Image of leaf or leaves in fall colors: color
Flower Details: dioecious with male and female flowers on separate trees .
Typical Pollination Mechanism: wind
Images of flowers (female and male flowers are on separate trees)
Images of fruit: silver maple seeds are of the “samara” design, the blade flies like a helicopter in a moderate wind, providing longer dispersion distances. Images are of early and later in the season.
Value for wildlife:
Utility for Humans: Sap to syrup ratio 70 gallons of sap makes 1 gallon of syrup. Silver maples, like most maples, was used to build interior home cabinets, flooring, veneering, furniture. Lodge frames, wooden bowls, pipe stems, tomahawk, axe handles. Old drums, hoops, butter churns.
Traditional uses in Native American Tree Medicine (historical): Heating the syrup was good to have relief from sore throat, and coughing. The sap is high in calcium, magnesium, copper, vitamins B1, B6. Woodland women would dab silver maple sap on the face to soften skin mostly during winter. Today some face creams have several blends of maple saps in the ingredients. We know maple sap natural nutrients and minerals, are powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Silver maple syrup tends not to be as sweet as other maple tree syrup.
Information provided by Paul Red Elk, Lakota Medicine Man
Links to related interesting information: audio file link