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Maple Tree Identification
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Posted by
farmboy1 5 Chicago area (
My Page) on
Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 12:13
| I'm curious of anyone can identify this maple tree..aside from "red maple" etc.
Thanks,
vince |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| And here is a shot of the entire tree |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Looks like a seed grown Sugar Maple to me Acer saccharum. Most larger trees of any but the fastest growing species are going to be grown from seed. Named cultivar for trees has been around about 60 years, and even then the earliest were not extremely widely planted. So IMHO a Sugar Maple of that size is too old to be a planted cultivar of the species. Arktrees |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 13:59
| Agree with sugar maple, not sure about the other statements. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Interesting! Across the street, barely visible on the right edge of the photo still green, is another sugar maple, which didn't turn yellow until almost two weeks later. I have attached an undated old photo of the house that shows an elm tree where the green sugar maple is today (it's the tree on the right in the b/w photo). In the background other elms can be distinguished by their branch structure. I'm guessing this picture is probably from the 1940s or 1950s due to the elms still being there. Am I fairly correct? Thanks! vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Here, 200 miles due north of Chicago, we pretty much finished up cutting down all the Am. elms in the early 1980s. The hey-day of this activity would have been the 1970s, with a strong component already in the 50s and 60s. So I think you might be a little early, though what I'm offering is for this area, not Chicago. +oM |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Would like a better view of the green "sugar maple" on the right before agreeing that its also Sugar Maple, what little I can see of it doesn't strike me as such. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Here is another picture, with the "green sugar maple" again on the right. It's hard to get closeups of the leaves on the tree, but l'll get better pictures of a leaf tomorrow. vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Tue, Oct 16, 12 at 2:26
| In the first street view the one on the right looks like Acer rubrum. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| The photo below shows three leaves that came off the "green sugar maple" today. During the summer the underside is a lighter grayish-green. In the three autumns I've seen the tree, the leaves have gone from green to yellow, with no reddish or orange coloration. Next post will have a picture of the trunk. Thanks, vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Tue, Oct 16, 12 at 22:31
| Yes, I could see the bloomy leaf undersides and other characteristics of red maple in the first picture. The only other it might be is Freeman maple, if the leaves are pointy enough to be indicating a silver maple involvement. Some Freeman maples are similar enough to red maples that they are sold as pure red maples. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Yup, Acer rubrum. Had a feeling, what little I could see of it didn't look like sacharum at all. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| And here is the trunk of the "green sugar maple" I should mention that two certified arborists who have seen the tree said it was a sugar maple. vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Bark/trunk looks more saccharum. Leaves look rubrum, or possibly freemanii as noted. Hmmm? +oM |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| IDK, that trunk shot is hard to tell rubrum vs. sacharum, but the leaves are definitely rubrum. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 0:43
| I've seen other red maples with rough trunks. The leaves shown here are nothing like sugar maple. Did these arborists see the tree in leaf, look at the buds etc.? If they both saw the tree with the leaves on it you have shown here, then on this point at least they are both dopes. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| So did anyone notice the fruits? Red maple samara mature in spring, sugar maple in fall. I'd also be looking at the terminal buds. Sugar maples are sharply pointed, red maples blunt. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Interesting... Both arborists saw the tree in springtime, but the leaves aren't reachable unless one is 15-20 feet off the ground. Good point about the buds and samaras. These I will need to check on in the spring unless I can see some samaras still on the tree. Thanks, as always! vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by beng z6b western MD (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 18, 12 at 9:34
| Looking at the leaves w/ruler pic, those look very much like A. rubrum. Some rubrums have trunks like that shown (similar to sacharum at the base), others have smoother trunk-bark. Red maples will have notably red flowers very early (before leaves), sugars have greenish-yellow flowers some weeks later as leaves emerge. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Here is a picture taken with the zoom function...sorry it's not better. If it is rubrum, which it sounds like, it has never shown any orangish or reddish colors. vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Looks like rubrum to me. And the Acer rubrum in the name actually refers to red flowers, and has zero to do with leaf color. Notice the buds look to be red as well. Arktrees |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| How interesting....as I read on Wikipedia when searching for Acer Rebrum: "It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn." But I do agree especially after all the discussion that the tree seems to be of the rebrum variety. Thanks! vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Despite claims to the contrary, A rubrum actually has highly variable fall foliage. Here's two located behind my parents' home in NJ: |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Much related to geography too. The A. rubrums in the area around where my land is do indeed color up bright red in the fall. Much genetic variation thrown in the pot too, given a species that grows from Canada to Florida. +oM |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Bet there must be a lot of disappointed buyers of Acer Rubrum or Red Maples at the big box stores! vince |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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| Perhaps once upon a time, but not now. Generally the A rubrums on sale (at big boxes or anywhere else) are clones with guaranteed bright red fall coloration. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 18, 12 at 22:24
| Blocks of seed-raised Acer rubrum plants in nurseries typically are predominantly red, orange or yellow, this differing from one seedling to the next. I just drove by what was probably one such today. My route also took me past miles of native vine maples, showing the same full range of variation. Accounts that depict either tree as just being one or two colors in fall, period, are simply inadequate. I come across incomplete horticultural descriptions all the time. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by beng z6b western MD (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 19, 12 at 8:59
| farmboy, in the SW VA mnts, ALL the nearby forest Red maples turned clear yellow without a trace of red. Combination of genetics & conditions I'd reckon. |
RE: Maple Tree Identification
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- Posted by beng z6b western MD (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 19, 12 at 12:43
| Some wild Sugar maples here on south-facing slopes turn reddish, but other areas are mostly just orange-yellow. Here's my streamside Sugar maple a few yrs ago -- this yr is similar. |
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