Maple

Maple is a generic name for the trees and shrubs in the Acer genus. It can also refer to the products of these trees, such as the wood, the sap that is converted into maple syrup and maple sugar, and the reddish-yellow or yellowish color of the wood from the trees. The trees are mostly deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves and grow new ones each year. A few types are evergreen. Those that are deciduous are known for the brilliant colors of red and gold leaves they produce in the fall just before the leaves are dropped by the tree. Found in locations around the world, maple trees form an important part of the economy in areas where they grow. The wood is used for building and other purposes, and maple syrup is also an in-demand product. In addition, areas with large numbers of maple trees often have beautiful fall foliage seasons that have a positive effect on tourism.

Background

There are more than one hundred types of maple trees grown worldwide. The trees originated in Asia but are found in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe and North America.

The trees grow in height from 33 feet to 148 feet (10 meters to 45 meters). Maple shrubs reach the lower range of the tree height and are distinguished by multiple smaller trunks. The leaves of the maple tree grow in an opposite leaf arrangement. Many maple leaves have five lobes with at least three and as many as thirteen veins to each lobe. Around the same time in late winter or early spring as the leaves of the deciduous trees bud, small four- or five-petaled flowers appear. Within a few weeks or months of flowering, the trees produce a unique two-lobed fruit known as a samara. These are often called "whirly-birds" or "helicopters" for the way the thin veined wings attached either singly or in pairs to the seeds cause them to spin as they float to the ground.

While some maples have been known to live as long as three hundred years, the average life span is much shorter and averages eighty to one hundred years. However, a few isolated instances have been recognized of trees living longer. For instance, one tree located in the Niagara region of Ontario in Canada has reached a trunk circumference of more than twenty feet and is believed to be more than five hundred years old.

Overview

In North America, maple trees are best known for the wood and syrup they produce. Maple wood comes in hard and soft varieties, depending on the type of maple tree from which it was harvested. Sugar maple is known as hard maple and is used for many items where strength is a valuable quality, such as bowling pins and lanes, pool cues, archer's bows, and cutting boards.

Many maple woods have very attractive grains, or patterns left by different seasons of growth. This makes them more desirable for artistic presentations such as furniture. Maple wood is also known to help produce a pleasing sound from musical instruments; this combined with its strength and fine grain makes it useful for the necks of stringed instruments such as violins and guitars. Maple is also incorporated into other instruments, including drums and drumsticks and some woodwind instruments. In addition to being harvested for lumber and other wood uses, maple is also used to make paper.

The maple tree is also well known for the sweet, distinctively flavored syrup it produces. This syrup comes from the tree's sap. Sap is a clear, watery substance that flows through trees. It is made through photosynthesis, the process by which trees and plants produce energy from sunlight, and includes carbohydrates that produce sweetness. While there are other trees that can be tapped for a sweet-tasting sap, the maple tree is the most prized. Sugar maples, black maples, and red maples are the types most commonly used for maple syrup production.

The sap will automatically leak out of any opening in the tree's bark, but it is often tapped by inserting a special pipe into an opening drilled into the tree. The sap is then collected in a bucket. Trees need to be about ten inches in diameter to produce enough sap for harvesting; it takes fifty to sixty years to reach that size. Even though maple sap is among the sweetest of all tree saps, it is still no more than 2.5 percent sugar; therefore, it is boiled down to concentrate the sweetness. It takes more than forty gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup, and each tree can produce ten to fifteen gallons of sap in a season.

Maple trees can also generate significant tourism in areas where they grow in abundance. The brightly colored leaves they produce in the fall provide brilliant displays that draw people to the area to view them. These leaves are the result of a natural change in the trees triggered by the longer nights and cooler weather.

Tree leaves have several different colored pigments in them. During the active growing season, the chlorophyll necessary for photosynthesis gives the leaves a green color. However, other types of pigments called carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown coloring, are present at the same time; these colors are simply masked by the green of the predominant chlorophyll. When nights lengthen and temperatures begin to cool, chlorophyll production drops and the green color in the leaves fades. This allows the colors produced by the carotenoids to take over. In addition, the weather conditions prevalent in fall stimulate the production of another pigment, anthocyanin, which helps produce a red color. This results in the colorful display associated with maple trees.

Maple trees are subject to the effects of a large number of pests and environmental factors. While this can be controlled in cultivated trees—those intentionally planted and grown for lumber, syrup, or other purposes—there is concern that wild maple trees may be in danger of extinction in some areas. Of the nearly 130 known varieties of maples, a 2009 survey conducted by the United Kingdom–based Botanic Gardens Conservation International consortium found that more than 80 of the 119 varieties of wild maples checked were in danger of extinction. Many of these were in Asia, specifically China, where the maple is believed to have originated. Efforts are under way to use techniques developed for cultivated maple trees to protect those found in the wild.

Bibliography

"All Things Maple." Sugarbush Hill Maple Farm, www.sugarbushhill.com/all-about-maple/interesting-facts-about-maple-sap/. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Kidd, Russell. "Why Are Maple Trees Tapped to Make Maple Syrup?" Michigan State University, msue.anr.msu.edu/news/why‗are‗maple‗trees‗tapped‗to‗make‗maple‗syrup. Accessed 19 May 2017.

"Maple Trees Globally at Risk of Extinction in the Wild." Earthzine,26 Nov. 2009, earthzine.org/2009/11/26/maple-trees-globally-at-risk-of-extinction-in-the-wild/. Accessed 19 May 2017.

Meier, Eric. "Differences between Hard Maple and Soft Maple." Wood Database, www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/differences-between-hard-maple-and-soft-maple/. Accessed 19 May 2017.

"Red Maple." National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Plants/Red-Maple.aspx. Accessed 19 May 2017.

"Red Maple Tree." Arbor Day Foundation, www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/treedetail.cfm?itemID=867. Accessed 19 May 2017.

"Sugar Maple Tree." Arbor Day Foundation, www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/treedetail.cfm?itemID=870. Accessed 19 May 2017.

"Why Leaves Change Color." US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/pubs/leaves/leaves.shtm. Accessed 19 May 2017.