Sugar Maple

Sugar maple (Photo by Bernt Solymar)

The sugar maple can grow up to 35 metres in height and 90 centimetres in diameter.

It is a long-lived tree, reaching 200 years of age or more. Sugar maples produce seeds every year, with abundant seed crops every seven years.

Where is this species found?

In Ontario, the sugar maple grows in the central and southern parts of the province.

The leaves of the sugar maple grow to be 8-20 centimetres long, with three rounded lobes. Sugar maple leaves are yellowish-green in colour and turn brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow in the fall.

The bark of the sugar maple is smooth and grey. As it matures, the tree develops dark and bubbly looking bark.

These rounded lobes and bubbly bark are features of the sugar maple that help distinguish it from other maples.

Commercial uses

The name sugar maple comes from the sweet sap of the tree that is used to produce Canada's famous maple syrup.

Supported by the Weston Family Foundation.