Native Maple Trees of the Northeast

Do you live in Maine or another section of the Northeast and are looking to enhance your landscape with wonderful shade trees? These maple trees are all native to the Northeast United States . Maples have great fall color and are a blessing as shade trees. Growing guide, description, and interesting tidbits about the trees are given.

Acer rubrum, the Red Maple a.k.a. Scarlet Maple

A member of the Aceraceae, or maple, family, it does well as a shade tree. It grows 100 to 120 feet high in the wild and 40 to 60 feet in cultivation. Leaves are lobed and serrated, turning red or green-yellow in the fall season. It has 1 to 1.5 inch long samaras. The red maple blooms scarlet around March and April.

Plant a red maple in full sun or partial shade with a moist acidic or nearly neutral pH soil. It is both cold and heat tolerant. Propagate by seed or softwood cuttings. Seed should have two to two-and-a-half months of stratification or two to five days in a cold water soak. For cuttings, use a rooting hormone.

Acer rubrum is distributed throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

It is a food source for many types of birds, deer, squirrel, and moose. However, the leaves and the bark are poisonous to livestock. It is a larval host plant to the rosy maple moth, or Dryocampa rubicunda.

Acer saccharum, the Sugar Maple a.k.a. Northern Sugar Maple

A member of the Aceraceae, or maple, family, it is Canada ‘s national tree and is represented on their flag. It grows 60 to 75 feet tall with smooth bark when young that ages to shaggy bark when mature. Leaves are green until fall when they are orange, yellow, and red. It will fruit green or brown samaras and blooms are yellow, green, or brown in April.

Plant a sugar maple in any lighting in rich, moist, well-drained soil. Propagate by seed or by cuttings, although seed will be easier. Seeds will need 2 to 3 months of cold moist stratification before sowing.

Acer saccharum is distributed throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The sugar maple’s sap is a source of maple sugar and syrup. A tree gives 5 to 60 gallons of sap per year, taking 32 gallons to make a gallon of syrup.

Acer spicatum, the Mountain Maple

A member of the Aceraceae, or maple, family, this small tree grows 20 to 35 feet tall. It has yellow-green leaves with red-brown bark and red or brown samaras for fruits. Foliage will turn orange or red in the fall. Flowers are on clustered spikes and bloom between March and May.

Plant a mountain maple in sun to shade conditions with moist acidic soil. It is quite adaptable and mostly disease and pest resistant. Propagate by seed.

Acer spicatum is distributed throughout Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Many woodland creatures such as deer, beavers, and rabbits eat the bark of this maple. In addition, it was used at one time by Native Americans to soothe the eyes by boiling young twigs of this maple with alum.