Sugar Maple vs. Red Maple Trees

Sugar Maple Tree Identification

Sugar maple is the second most common tree in the Northeast. Its average life span is 300 years, and it can live up to 500 years. This means that many large mature trees populate our region. Some areas of the Northeastern forest are primarily composed of sugar maples. With the trees in close proximity, it is easy to tap them for their sap. An area of many maple trees being tapped for sap is called a “sugarbush.” The sap is then transported to the sugarhouse where it is boiled down to make maple syrup and other maple-flavored products. In March, a popular dessert at church suppers in New England is “sugar-on-snow,” made by boiling sap and then pouring it on a bowl full of hard-packed snow.

Where Do Sugar Maple Trees Grow?

Sugar maple can be found throughout the Northeast. It has adapted to a variety of soil types, so it is not limited to specific conditions. It is also tolerant of shade, meaning it does not need direct sunlight to grow. Thus, it can start life even when over-shadowed by more mature trees. It is one of the dominant species in mixed hardwood forests, so generally if you find one tree, you will find many throughout the forest, unlike red maple, it does not tolerate wet roots, so it will not be found in swampy or boggy areas.

• Sap lines
• roadside rows
• branches grow upward, oval shape
• spiral growth

Sugar Maple Opposite Branching

If you see at least one pair of opposite branches, it is either a maple or an ash.

Sugar Maple Sap Lines

Maple syrup is most commonly made from the sap of the sugar maple, so wherever you see sap buckets– or, more often these days, plastic tubing running through the woods– you are seeing a grove of maple trees, which is called a “sugarbush”. The sap lines are under negative pressure, which causes the sap to be drawn from the trees and delivered to a sap house where it is collected and then boiled down into maple syrup.

Sugar Maple Roadside Rows

Sap is gathered in the early spring when snow is generally still on the ground. In the old days, the sap was collected in buckets on the trees, and workmen would go around with a horse- or oxen- drawn sleigh with a big barrel on it to gather all the sap from the buckets. Needless to say, it was difficult to draw a sleigh through thick woods, so to make it easier to gather the sap, settlers planted sugar maples along the road. If you see trees planted in a row along a thoroughfare, old or new, look closely. Chances are good, especially in New England, that they are sugar maples.

Sugar Maple Branches Grow Upward, Oval Shape

It may seems self-evident that branches grow upward, but not all of them do. Some trees actually have branches that grow downward, and other trees have branches that grow in all directions. The branches of open-grown sugar maples, however, do all grow upward in a classic oval form. The major limbs and branches both grow vertically with slender tips and form the distinctive oval shape. You will occasionally see a maple tree growing by itself in the middle of a field. Most likely an early farmer either planted it or left it when the land was cleared to provide a place to eat lunch and rest in its shadow when working in the field.

Sugar Maple Spiral Growth

Not all maples grow in spirals, but enough do that it is a secondary characteristic for identification. Some scientists speculate that this feature evolved to help the tree withstand high winds.

Red Maple Tree Identification

Red maple is called red because its twigs, buds, and flowers are all red, and its leaves turn a flaming red in the fall–in fact, its leaves are among the earliest in the fall to start turning. It is also the most widespread deciduous tree in the eastern U.S., able to grow in wet and dry conditions, poor and rich soils, and in bottom-lands and at elevation.

Where to look for Red Maple Trees

According to the USDA Forest Service, 30 percent of all trees in the Northeast are red maples. They appear throughout the Northeast, being one of the most adaptable trees. They can be found almost anywhere–from swamps to poor dry soils, and every condition in between. They can also grow at a wide range of elevations, from sea level to about 3,000 feet.

• Opposite branching
• Red twigs, buds, flowers, and fall color
• Bull’s-eyes in the Bark
• Swamp maple

Red Maple Opposite Branching

Only three trees that are commonly encountered in the forests of the Northeast have opposite branching: red maple, sugar maple, and ash. This means that if you see at least one pair of opposite branches, you know it is either a maple or an ash. Because ash branches are so unlike maple branches, it is easy to tell which one you are looking at. Both red maple and sugar maple have opposite branching.

Red Maple with red twigs, buds, flowers, and fall color

There is something red about red maple year round– red twigs, red buds, red flowers, and in the fall, red leaves. It is hard to see buds or twigs on a tall mature tree, so they are not much help in identifying it. On young trees or trees with new growth within reach, buds and twigs can be useful. Red maple leaves turn bright red in the fall, often before the leaves of other trees being to turn. Then, very early in the spring, it is one of the first trees to flower, long before it’s leaves appear.

Red Maple bull’s-eyes in the bark

If you see a tree with a pattern in its bark that looks like a bull’s-eye you can identify it as a red maple without a doubt. This unusual pattern in the bark is a trunk canker caused by a fungus. Even as a tree ages, the bull’s-eye pattern persists.

Red “Swamp” Maple

If you see opposite branching on a tree and it is growing in a swamp, lowland, or right next to water, then you know it is a red maple. Red maple is also known as swamp maple because it can thrive in wet areas, while sugar maple cannot tolerate these conditions.

I always feel at home where the sugar maple grows… glorious in autumn, a fountain of coolness in the summer, sugar in its veins, gold in its foilage, warmth in its fibers, and health in it the year round.

— John Burroughs, Under the Maples

Sugar Maple vs. Red Maple

It is not easy to tell red maple from sugar maple. As Chuck Wosster writes in Northern Woodlands magazine, “telling red maple from sugar maple can vex even seasoned botanists on occasion.” That said, there are a number of keys that help distinguish the two maples

• Red maple found near water
• Red vs. brown twigs and buds

Red Maple Found Near Water

Red maple–or swamp maple– can tolerate having wet roots, so if you know a given tree is a maple because of opposite branching, and if it is growing in or near water or a wet area, it is a red maple.

Bark Differences

Red maple is also know as soft maple, while sugar maple is also called hard maple. The “hard” in “hard maple” is sometimes reflected in the appearance of the tree’s bark. A tight, hard-looking bark can be found on some sugar maples but not on red maples.

Bulls-eyes sometimes appear in red maple bark but never in sugar maples.

Red vs. Brown Twigs and Buds

In the Introduction, I said that I would avoid using twigs and buds in identification because they are so hard to see or obtain when dealing with a mature tree. However, because it is sometimes difficult to distinguish betwen sugar and red maple, I have included them here. If nothing else, they can be used to identify seedlings– which might provide a clue to the mature trees around them.

Red maple has red twigs and buds (and red leaves in the fall and red flowers in the spring). The leaves of sugar maple, on the other hand, generally turn yellow or golden in the fall, and sugar maples have brown twigs and buds.

In the forests of the Northeast, red maple is the most common of all deciduous trees. In fact, there are twice as many of them as the next most common, sugar maple. Thus, if you determine a tree is a maple and guess that it is a red maple, you will likely be right two out of three times.

Excerpted from A Beginners Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast © by Mark MIkolas, photography by The Countryman Press, used with permission from The Countryman Press.