Because they have so many leaves, maple trees are often planted for shade in gardens and parks and along city streets. Maple leaves in autumn often have beautiful colors. Some maples provide wood that is used by builders and furniture makers. Others produce a valuable sap that people collect and use to make sweet syrup. The leaf of the sugar maple is the national symbol of Canada.

Where maples grow

There are about 200 different species, or kinds, of maples. Almost all of them are native to lands north of the equator. They are found in many different habitats, except in the tropics and the Arctic zone. The tall sugar maple is the best-known North American maple. The silver maple is another popular North American species. The Norway maple is a well-known European species. Of the many East Asian maples, the paperbark maple is especially striking in appearance.

Physical features

Maples range in size from small shrubs to large trees more than 130 feet (40 meters) tall. Maple leaves grow on long stalks and are often green or shades of red. The leaves of the silver maple have a silvery underside. Most kinds of maples have broad leaves with several thick or thin fingerlike sections called lobes sticking out. The lobes make the maple leaf an easy shape to recognize. In the fall the leaves on some trees turn a range of spectacular colors, which include yellow, pink, orange, scarlet, and deep purple.

The bark of a maple is typically gray or shades of brown. The texture of the bark may be rough and lightly cracked. Some maples are called snake-bark maples because of stripes running up their bark that make people think of a snake's skin. The paperbark maple has brown bark that peels off the tree like old wallpaper.

Flowers on maples vary in size and color. The red maple has deep red flowers, while the flowers of the Norway maple are greenish yellow. The fruits of maples are pairs of papery wings that flutter to the ground, scattering the seeds away from the tree.

Maple syrup

Native Americans taught settlers from Europe how to make syrup from the sap of the sugar maple. The tree typically grows from eastern Canada down through the southern and midwestern United States. The sap is collected in late winter or early spring, during the time when temperatures hover around the freezing point. The sap flows out holes cut into the trunk of the tree and is collected in buckets or other containers. Then the sap is boiled down to increase its sugar content. About 30 to 50 gallons (115 to 190 liters) of sap are needed to make 1 gallon (4 liters) of syrup.