Maple Tree the Term Maple

Maple Tree The term maple is the common name for a family, Aceraceae, of trees and shrubs in the soapberry order, Sapindales. The Aceraceae has two genera. The first is the Acer, the maples proper and the box elder, and the second is Dipteronia. Most of the maple trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves every year at the end of the budding season; only a few have enduring leaves and are called as evergreen or semi-evergreen.

The leaves of the maple tree grow opposite each other, and they grow in pairs. The leaves are commonly long-stemmed and lobed and they also have toothed margins. The maple tree's flowers are either unisexual (either male or female) or bisexual, and both sorts may take place within a species. These flowers are generally small and are not immediately obvious and are borne in clusters; they may become visible before or with the leaves.

The fruit of the maple tree, samara, sometimes called key fruit or key, usually consists of paired, winged nutlets, with the wings often forming a U. Or V shape. In Dipteronia, each wing surrounds its seed. The seeds supply food for squirrels, birds, and mice. The fruits become fully grown in late spring or in the fall. (World Book Encyclopedia 1992) The genus Acer started off in China and then it expanded throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Now it is prevalent all the way through the northern temperate region and also grows on mountains in the tropics. The quantity of species is variously given as 115 to 200. Most of the maple species are found in China and Japan. Thirteen species are indigenous to the United States, five of which are important for timber products. The use, growth, and sugar content of maple trees differ according to their species. The attractive plants and striking autumn colors enable maples to be well-known for ornamental purposes.

There are a few famous maple species. These are the read maple, black maple, silver maple, Japanese maple and sugar maple. The red maple, a. rubrum, is a native to North America. Its leaves ranges from 5 to 15 cm (2 to 5 inches) across and they commonly have three lobes, occasionally five; the lobes of these leaves are coarsely notched. These maple trees achieve 36 m (120 ft) in height and 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter. In early spring, vibrant red flowers could be seen. The lemon-colored leaves become deep purple in autumn.

(Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia 1994) the red maple develops finest on moderately well-drained to well-drained, moist soils. The red maple trees normally grow in conditions ranging from dry ridges to swamps. It is found growing naturally in pure stands and with a vast assortment of other tree species ranging from gray birch and paper birch, to yellow poplar and black cherry, and as well as sugar and black maple because of the wide variety of sites on which red maple will grow. It is also very much used in the sugar process.

The red maple is a moderately short-lived tree, hardly ever living longer than 150 years in contrast to sugar and black maple. Mature trees commonly average between 20 and 30 inches in diameter and 60 and 90 feet tall. Similar to sugar and black maple, the red maple is shade tolerant and is located in both even-aged and uneven-aged forests. The red maple's most attractive attribute is its ability to flourish on an extensive variety of site circumstances. Because of this characteristic, the maple syrup producing sector is very much attracted to red maples.

The sap sugar content of red maple is lesser, on the average, than that of nearby comparable sugar or black maples. This lower sap sugar content would mean higher costs of production and lower profits for the producers. Red maple trees begin growth in the spring before sugar and black maples, resulting in a shorter collecting season. Also, when the sap of some red maples is processed, an excessive amount of sugar sand is produced. Sugar sand or niter is the salt that precipitates during the evaporation procedure.

These are the noted weak points of the red maple. Sugar sand can cause quite a few problems at some point in the production process. The distribution of the silver maple, a. saccharinum, is similar to that of the sugar maple, but its scope extends farther south. It has glistening silver and green foliage. The silver maple trees leaves' are deeply separated into five large-toothed lobes; the center lobe is at times deeply notched to form three lobes. The leaves are about 16.5 cm (6.5 inches) across.

The silver maple is principally a bottomland and floodplain species, under natural conditions, where it may appear in pure stands but is more commonly found coupled with other bottom species such as American elm, sweetgum, pin oak, swamp white oak, eastern cottonwood, sycamore, and/or green ash. It has been widely planted as an ornamental and street tree. Silver maples grow fast and they thrive best on moist spots. The silver maple is classified as a soft maple.

Because of this it's use as an ornamental and street tree, at least in urban areas, has been terminated in recent years because the wood of silver maple is very brittle and often ruptures in severe wind, snow or ice storms. On the other hand, large silver maple trees are abundant in many areas and these are used for sugar operation every now and then. When compared to the black and red maple's sugar production, silver maple is a noticeably fourth choice for sugaring for a number of reasons.

The reasons are similar to those of the red maple. First, its sugar content is usually lower than red maple's, perhaps as much as 1/2% or more, which will give even higher production expenses and lower earnings. Second, similar to that of the red maple, it initiates growth in the spring, earlier than the sugar maple and black maple, resulting in a shorter collecting season. Third, like red maple, the evaporation of sap from various silver maples generates an excessive amount of sugar sand. The sugar maple, a.

saccharum, is also known as rock, or hard rock maple. It is widely distributed in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Its leaves are 7.5 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches) across and usually have five lobes that are separated by rounded, shallow indentations; the lower two lobes are rather small. The margins of the leaves are indented with meager, large, pointed teeth. Under ideal conditions, sugar maples grow to 23-30 m (75-100 ft) tall, with trunk diameters of 0.9 to 1.2 m (3 to 4 ft).

It has dark green leaves which turn yellow, orange, and red in autumn. The scrumptious golden-brown maple syrup comes from the sap of this tree; and its wood is employed for furniture. The Canadian flag has the sugar maple leaf on it, which shows how important the tree is for the country. The black maple, a. nigrum, deemed by some to be a sub-species of sugar maple, is native from Quebec. It is a slow-growing tree that is not usually planted as an ornamental plant. Its leaves are normally three-lobed.

Sugar and black maples are found on an array of soils and location conditions, but neither could be planted in extreme conditions. None tolerates excessively wet or dry sites, and both grow best on moist, deep, well-drained soils. The black maple is more likely to be found alongside moist river bottoms.

Both sugar and black maples can be found growing in pure stands, with each other, or with a broad variety of other hardwood types including American beech, American basswood, yellow birch, black cherry, northern red oak, yellow poplar and black walnut. Establishment of sugar plantations has also been widespread with the purpose of developing efficient, productive sugar bushes. (http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html) The sugar and black maple are very similar species and indisputably the most chosen species for producing maple products, primarily because of their high sugar content.

Both the sugar and black maples grow in the shade of other trees, and trees of many different ages/sizes are frequently found in a forest. Both species are also found in stands composed of trees that are essentially all the same age/size. Healthy sugar and black maple trees growing in overstocked uneven-aged or even-aged stands can be estimated to achieve desirable size in 40 to 60 years, depending on total site quality.

Sugar and black maple are particularly appealing as sugar trees because of their high sap sugar content and the late date at which they commence growth in the spring. Sugar and black maple have the highest sap sugar content than any of the maple species. While the exact sap sugar content of a tree will differ depending on many factors including genetics, site and weather, sugar and black maples generally average between 2.0 and 2.5% sap sugar content.

Genetic research on sugar maple suggests that the sap sugar content of planted seedlings can be increased by controlled breeding. Other things being equal, higher sap sugar content translates to lower costs of production and greater profits (World Book Encyclopedia 1992). Black and sugar maples start their growth later in the spring than red or silver maple. As maples begin their growth, chemical changes take place in the sap which makes it inappropriate for syrup production.

The term "buddy sap" is often employed to late season sap which produces syrup with a very disagreeable flavor and odor. Because sugar and black maple resume growth later than red or silver maple, sap may be collected later in the spring. Japanese maple, a. palmatum, is also a well-liked ornamental tree. It has about 80 strains varying from shrubs to trees. They rarely grow more than 6 meters high. Japanese maples have leaves that are deeply divided into five to nine narrow, toothed lobes.

They have light leaves which are delicate shades of red and green in the spring. In the autumn the leaves develop beautiful purple-red hues. These maple trees also have tendencies to produce leaves early in the spring and are susceptible to frost damage in northern climates. (World Book Encyclopedia 1992) Another appealing Asian maple is the paperbark maple. It grows to about 12 meters high. The leaves are dark green on top and bluish-green underneath. The paperbark maple is native to China.

One of the most famous European maples is the Norway maple, a. platanoides. It is known by the opposite paired arrangements of its leaves and branches, its 7-lobed leaf without marginal teeth, and its 11/2 to 2-inch long samara with opposing wings. (http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html) the sap of Norway maple is not commonly used to produce maple syrup. Its green leaves turn pale yellow in autumn. The hedge maple is the only maple native to the United Kingdom. It can grow up to 15 meters high.

Its leaves have three to five lobes and become yellow in autumn. The hedge maple has been cultivated for many years. Maple trees are commonly divided into two clusters: the hard maples, such as sugar maples and black maple, and the soft maples, such as the silver maple, red maples, and box elder. Soft maples grow more hastily than hard maples, but are brittle and often break in lofty airstreams and in ice storms. Because of this, the stronger and longer-lived hard maples are preferable as shade trees.

Maple wood is used predominantly for lumber, distilled products, veneer, crossties, and pulpwood. Most of the lumber is utilized for flooring, furniture, crates and interior finishing. Maple wood could also be used for the manufacture of acetic acid and alcohol. The maple tree is well-known for two features, its helicopter seeds which descend to the ground spinning like the blades of a helicopter, and the syrup or sugar which is made from its sap. The helicopters are in fact the fruit of the maple tree.

They have two small seeds at the center, joined together by a very delicate linkage, and two thin, paper-like wings, one on each side. When they are full-grown, these fruits frequently break apart and float to the earth with the wing spinning round and round like the blades on a helicopters. Maple syrup is one of the most famous economically important contributions of the maple tree.

While most maples have sweet sap, the sugar, also known as rock or hard maple, produces, by far, the best sap for maple syrup and sugar. The sap of the sugar maple has higher concentrations of sugar than the other members of the maple family, and produces better flavored, lighter syrup. The process of maple syrup production entails several steps and considerations. The weather condition is an important factor. For the maple sap to run, the nights must be cold, below freezing.

Night temperatures should ideally be in the mid-20's. If the temperature falls to far below freezing, the sap will take to long to warm up the next morning, and this will not be a desirable process. If the temperature is too high, above freezing, the sap won't run the next day. Daytime temperatures are as equally relevant. The temperatures during the day should be in the mid-40's. If the temperature doesn't rise above freezing or if it is too high, the sap will not run.

Temperature is not the sole part of the weather that plays an active role in the success or failure of a maple season. If the temperatures are ideal, but the sky is always overcast, there will be a much slower run, producing much less sap. Just as your skin feels much warmer with the sun beating ion it, so does the maple tree. This added warmth draws the sap out of the ground and up past the tap holes where it is collected.

The depth of the snow on the ground during the season is also an issue. Snow acts as a layer of insulation on the ground. If there is a deep layer of snow on top of the frozen ground during maple season, the snow will help lengthen the season by keeping the ground frozen for a longer period. This frozen ground facilitates to decelerate the development of the tree's leaf buds, and delay the "buddiness" of the sap. This "buddy" flavor makes the sap not viable.

(http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html) Still, there is no simple resolute regulation for predicting the quality of a maple season. Snowfall is not the only pre-season weather that has an effect on maple sap flow. Such factors as rainfall, amount of sunshine and even temperatures for the past year, could altogether make a difference. The more rain and snow that fell during the previous year, the more water is available to the tree.

While this doesn't vary greatly from year to year, a dry summer will lower the water tables and reduce sap flow the subsequent spring. Sunshine and temperatures during the preceding summer take part in determining the magnitude of sugar the tree could produce and accumulate in its roots (http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html).If the summer was very cool or very cloudy, any of the two extremes, the tree would not be able to generate as much sugar.

The lower levels of sugar may have no effect on the amount of sap which is brought together, but the sap will cause a reduce in the sugar concentration, which means less syrup from the same quantity of sap. Since maple trees are located only in certain areas of the world, the demand for maple products is high. More often than not, maple products are imported into countries not suitable for maple tree growth. This causes profit for the producing or importing countries and high costs for the exporting countries.

Since the United States, a large country, could produce a large amount of maple products, the world market price could be based on their production. The production of the small countries on the other hand would have very little or no effect at all on the world market price. The maple syrup is also a complement of food, particularly pancakes. In places where rice is not the main staple, the demand for maple syrup could be higher.

The lumber provided by maple trees could however be negligible because other types of lumber, probably stronger and cheaper, could be provided by other countries. A project conducted by the Environmental Sciences Division in Oak Ridge National Laboratory studied effects of temperature adjustments in sugar maple trees. The objective was to assess short- and long-term homeostatic temperature adjustments in sugar maple, involving physiological modifications to genetic demarcation in populations from across the allocation range.

The study entailed compilation of sugar maple seeds from the three locations, Rhinelander Wisconsin, Batavia Illinois, and Oak Ridge Tennessee. The results showed that physiological acclimation to warmer temperatures was a bigger factor in these sugar maples than were population-level adaptations to temperature, probably because.