Sugar Maple

Height:	60' to 80' (45' at age 30)
Width:	40' to 70' (40' at age 30)
Hardiness Zone:	3 to 7
Crown:	Ovate, regular ascending branches, medium texture
Foliage:	3" to 5", sugar maple is brilliant yellow, orange, or red in fall; black maple is more subdued
Flowers:	Yellow-green, emerge before leaves
Fruit:	1" samara
Description:	Sugar maple is native to moist, cool sites in central and eastern U.S. and Canada. On spacious sites it is a most attractive shade tree. Foliage is dense and develops spectacular autumn colors. Smooth gray bark becomes furrowed with age, ultimately with long, scaly plates. Growth rate is slow to medium. Black maple is closely related and very similar to sugar maple in most traits, but is a separate species.
Advantages:	Pleasing growth habit and colors make for an ideal tree in parks or broad tree lawns. Shade tolerance permits it to be interplanted among older trees.
Limitations:	Vigorous growth and storm breakage lead to high maintenance costs for trimming and cleanup. Mature trees may be very costly to remove due to large size of trunk. Susceptible but seldom severely damaged by many diseases and insects, including anthracnose, leafspots, cankers, trunk decay, leaf-feeding insects, borers and physiological disorders. Surface roots may damage sidewalks and sewers. Sometimes chlorotic on calcareous soils. Seedlings can be a nuisance.
Site and Culture:	One of the easiest species to grow on many soil types, but avoid high pH. Tolerates adverse urban conditions. Timely and frequent pruning is needed to develop strong branch structure. Keep away from sidewalks and jointed pipes.
Cultivars:	Several cultivars of this species such as 'Silver Queen' and 'Skinner's Cutleaf', and hybrids (Acer x freemanii) with red maple, have been selected for improving branching habit. These deserve to be tried on spacious sites away from utility lines.
Notes:	Some municipalities prohibit the planting of the species as a street tree.
Tree Location:	South Park, North Park