4/16/2024 0 Comments Types of maple trees in mnOften, the inner leaves are yellow, the outer leaves with sun exposure orange tinted with red. The foliage on a single tree may show all these colors plus green at the same time. They turn yellow, orange, scarlet, or dark red, often changing from one color to the next in progression. In the fall the leaves give a brilliant display. The sides and tip of the leaf do not droop. The margins are sometimes slightly curled under and have a few coarse, irregular, wavy teeth, but they are not double-toothed and do not have fine teeth. The lower surface is pale green, bluish-green, grayish-green, or whitish, is sometimes covered with a whitish coating (glaucous), and is either hairless or hairy. The upper surface is dark green and hairless. The sinus at the base of the leaves is open and the two bottom lobes do not overlap. The central lobe is cut ⅓ to ½ of the way to the base of the blade, and is widest at the base or has nearly parallel sides. The two bottom lobes are much smaller than the two lateral lobes. The space between the lobes (sinus) is rounded and usually forms an angle of less than 90°. The lobes taper to sharply-pointed tips and sometimes have small, secondary lobes. The blades are palmately lobed with usually 5 pointed lobes, rarely only 3. There are no prominent stipules at the base of the petiole. When cut, the petioles exude a clear sap. They are on leaf stalks (petioles) that are 1 ½ ″ to 3 ″ long and sometimes hairy. The leaves are opposite, 2 ⅜ ″ to 6 ″ long, and 3 ″ to 6 ″ wide, sometimes wider than long. They are composed of 6 to 12 dark brown to nearly black overlapping scales. The buds are dark brown, egg-shaped, ¼ ″ long, sharply pointed, and hairless or slightly hairy. At the end of the twig is a brown, ¼ ″ to ⅜ ″ long, sharply pointed winter bud with tight scales. The younger twigs have obvious, small, lighter, pore-like openings (lenticels) that are not raised much above the bark surface. They appear in a V-shape on the branches. The twigs are thin, reddish-brown to green, smooth, hairless and shiny. It may have vertical plates curled at the top and bottom, it may be semi-ridged, or it may have overlapping shingles. It may be brown, gray, or nearly black, with orangish interior bark. Older bark is highly variable in appearance. On mature trees the bark is dark gray with deep, irregular furrows and thick, long, irregular plates that curl at the top and bottom edges. The bark on young trees is gray to dark gray or brown and smooth or warty. The branches are opposite, short, sturdy, and ascending to spreading. The crown is dense, broad, round or oval, symmetrical, smooth, and round-topped. The foliage is dense and forms a dense canopy, which restricts understory and turf growth. They can live 300 to 400 years, but typically live 150 to 200 years. In Minnesota mature trees are usually 40 ′ to 70 ′ tall and 24 ″ to 36 ″ in diameter, though large individuals can reach over 80 ′ in height. It is the most common maple in eastern North America. Sugar maple is a long-lived, slow-growing, deciduous, medium to large, hardwood tree rising on a single trunk from deep, widely spreading roots.
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