Tree Identification 8: Silver Maple

Silver Maple: Acer saccharinum

One of the things that I have discovered, now that I am aware that not all trees are the same or created equal, is that there are a lot of trees out there that are in the Maple or Acer family. While some are easily identifiable, others are cross bred designer trees with colors and leaf patterns not readily found in nature. In exploring my world around Enslow, I have found Maple varieties to be rather ubiquitous. The Silver Maple identified here tends to be a leading contender along with the Sugar Maple previously identified for tree king or queen in the Highlawn neighborhood.

The Silver Maple is similar to the Sugar Maple that was previously identified in many ways. But, there are several differences between the Silver and Sugar Maple. One would be the silver coloring on the back of the leaves and that the overall size of the Silver is larger (3-5 inches on the Sugar as opposed to 5-7 inches on the Silver). The Silver Maple also has less sap sugar than the Sugar Maple. Although it grows in the same regions as the Sugar Maple, its sap isn't commercially tapped for this reason. The tree also has a shorter life expectancy than the Sugar Maple. The Sugar Maple's life expectancy is over 200 years, whereas the Silver Maple's life expectancy is around 130-140 years.



Silvery gray on young trees breaking into long thin scaly plates that give the trunks of older trees a very shaggy appearance. Considerable red is seen in bark pattern as scales develop.



5-7 inches wide; deeply clefted; 5-lobed with the sides of the terminal lobe diverging toward the tip; light green upper surface and a silvery white underside; leaf margin with fine teeth (but not the inner edges of the sinuses).