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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Sugar Maple at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p41a
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_721
)
JK Marlow jkm150423_553
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
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).
COMPARE
leaves of Black, Chalk, Florida, Norway and Sugar Maple
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_acer_saccharum_3
June
)
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).
)
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).
)
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).
)
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
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)
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!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p273
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p268
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p043
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p060
- The Sibley Guide to Trees (Sibley, 2009) p338
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p091
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p14
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p222
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p048
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".