The name ‘maple’ apparently originated in England, based on the Old English mapul, which may related to mopurr, the Old Norse name for maple.
It is cultivated on approximately 12.5 million hectares or 9% of the total hardwood land and encloses a net volume of about 130 million cubic meters or 6% of the hardwood saw-timber in the United States.
The tree is large-growing, tall tree species with semi-pendulous branches. Usually 50-8- feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet under optimum conditions sometimes 120 feet tall with a trunk 3-4 feet in diameter.
In the open, the bole divides 8- 10 feet above ground into stout, ascending branches that form a broad, ovoid, round –topped crown. Leaves have five lobes and are notably silver-glaucous below.
On the ecological front, it is prominent species of many forests in North America. The native peoples of North America collected sap in crude wooden, birchbark, or pottery vessels in the early spring after simply hacking wounds on the trunks of the trees.
Tree of Acer saccharum Marsh (sugar maple)
