OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acer saccharum var. saccharum   FAMILY Sapindaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acer saccharum var. saccharum   FAMILY Aceraceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 115-01-006a:

Acer saccharum ssp. saccharum   FAMILY Aceraceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Saccharodendron barbatum

 

COMMON NAME:
Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux    dcp34_p41a

        

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_721

        

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

JK Marlow    jkm150423_553

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

JK Marlow    jkm120517_976

May    Yancey County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

Blades 3-5" long, sinuses globose, lobe margins entire or wavy, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves of Black, Chalk, Florida, Norway and Sugar Maple

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_acer_saccharum_3

June        

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

JK Marlow    jkm111008_842

October    Jackson County    NC

Balsam Mountain Preserve

With age, bark becomes furrowed into rigid scaly plates or rough ridges, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

JK Marlow    s051107_a

November    Greenville County    SC

Downtown Greenville

Autumn foliage bright red, orange, or yellow, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

JK Marlow    s051107_b

November    Greenville County    SC

Downtown Greenville

You're likely to encounter this in residential or commercial plantings, per The Native Maples of Georgia (Ware, 2003).

image of Acer saccharum var. saccharum, Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Sugar-tree

Keith Bradley    kab_acer_saccharum_9902

December    Polk County    NC

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acer saccharum var. saccharum   FAMILY Sapindaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acer saccharum var. saccharum   FAMILY Aceraceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 115-01-006a:
Acer saccharum ssp. saccharum   FAMILY Aceraceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Saccharodendron barbatum

 

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16

Tree
Perennial
Polygamous

Habitat: cove forests, other rich forests, especially over mafic and calcareous rocks, on calcareous soils common and typical in dry-mesic forests and dry woodlands as well, less typically extending to high elevation northern hardwood forests where sometimes in acidic situations (as in Highlands County, VA), in parts of the Piedmont perhaps more common as an introduction by ornamental planting than as a native, at least south of VA, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (rare in Piedmont south of VA, where perhaps only introduced)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Does not have milky sap

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Opposite

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish-yellow
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed campanulate calyx
Petals absent
Unisexual and bisexual on the same tree

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp composed of two 1-seeded samaras

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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