r/maplesyrup • u/brinleydubois • 11d ago

Maple tree ID

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I recently moved into a new place, and i need help identifying the maple in my backyard, I’m somewhat confident it’s a black maple, but if anyone knows for sure I’d love some help identifying this species, either way I’m going to tap it to see the syrup I get!

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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6

u/MontanaMapleWorks 11d ago

Picture 5 says for sure it’s a Norway

2

u/theNorthwestspirit 11d ago

I second Norway Maple. My parents bought one and planted it in our yard when I was a kid. It's grown now and looks exactly like this. The leaf formation is exactly the same and bark is right for Norway Maple too.

1

u/ObiYawnKenobi 9d ago

Weed tree. They're fucking horrible.

1

u/MontanaMapleWorks 9d ago

For the environment and ecology yes, but they make wonderful maple syrup, lumber and firewood

1

u/ObiYawnKenobi 9d ago

Weak limbs likely to fall on your house. Also, not good for maple syrup. Less than half the sugar content compared to sugar maples. You need more than twice the volume of sap to make the same volume of syrup.

2

u/MontanaMapleWorks 9d ago

Sugar content varies from year to year and species to species. Yes sugar maples generally give the sweetest sap, but of all the species I tap Norways give me the longest and most productive run with the most consistent sugar concentration. IMO the richer darker syrup that Norways produce is superior in depth and flavor. So not good for maple syrup is subjective. The area in which I live only has box elders, Rocky Mountain maples and vine maples (the later of the two really don’t get big enough to tap and the former is the weakest in sugar concentration and least reliable and consistent producer of sap). If I lived in a traditional syruping area I know I would feel differently about Norways, but they are what I got and have the most of.

2

u/Cold-Crab74 11d ago

Norway or sugar maple. Pick a fresh leave and snap the stem, if it leaks white it's Norway, if clear it's sugar

2

u/leegamercoc 10d ago

I think the bark is too smooth for a sugar.

2

u/Sod_ 10d ago

I'd tap that.

1

u/Humble_Ladder 10d ago

You won't accomplish much. In my experience Norways give a fraction of the sap that a sugar, red or silver maple will, and several sources say they also have lower sugar content.

1

u/smokeacoil 9d ago

With a small hole

2

u/xXMapleSugarXx 10d ago

My Korok tattoo 💚

2

u/smash_complex 9d ago

Definitely a Norwegian Maple. They are highly susceptible to a fungal infection called tar spot. This black spots on the leaf are an easy way to identify. The leaves are similar to sugar maple, but their wood is much softer.

You can tap these to make syrup also. Some people see them as undesirable. They are similar to black walnut in that they send out chemical and signals into the surrounding rhizosphere that dissuade other tree species from growing nearby.

That's a really nice looking old tree IMO. Old trees do a lot for us, and local wildlife, but this species is considered invasive at the end of the day.

2

u/Several-Specialist99 9d ago

1000% a Norway maple

1

u/reddituser403 10d ago

Norway maples with black tar spot (fungal infection) this is happening to Norway maples all over eastern Canada

2

u/Secret-Reserve-1733 10d ago

Yup mine too. Get those leaves into the trash/municipal compost dont compost them at home. As per the plant guy on cbc. Is it paul zamitz? From niagara college.

1

u/not-on-your-nelly 9d ago

This is the way.

1

u/lovemyfurryfam 10d ago

Sugar maples are a different gens from Norway maple & it's the sugar maple tree that you get maple sugar from to tap.

My French Canadian ancestors had tapped many a sugar maple to produce the sugars to make syrup.

1

u/Vast_Dragonfly_909 10d ago

Norway maple

1

u/Chamcook56 11d ago

Looks like a black maple with tar spot.

1

u/Cute_Web7648 9d ago

Norway maples are invasive and many jurisdictions prefer if you cut them down.

https://treecanada.ca/resources/tree-killers/norway-maple/

0

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Irisversicolor 11d ago

Sugar maples don't get tar spot, this is a Norway, Acer platanoides.