Acer saccharinum L.

Silver Maple

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Silver Maple is a medium sized native deciduous tree in the Soapberry family (Sapindaceae). It occurs throughout Alabama. Silver Maple grows in hardwood floodplain forests, on river banks, and in swamp forests. It is a fast-growing tree reaching heights of 90-120 feet. It often forms several ascending trunks from near ground level. Silver Maple has a shallow fibrous root system. The bark on young trees is smooth and light gray. On older trunks, it is furrowed with long thin flakey plates. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, deeply palmately 5-lobed, with coarsely toothed margins. The lobes are sharply pointed with V-shaped sinuses. Leaves are light green above, and pale, silvery white below. Leaves often turn bright yellow before leaf drop. Flowers are produced in the early spring before the leaves. The flowers are imperfect and produced in short racemes or fascicles on younger stems and short spur branchlets. Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees or in different clusters on the same tree. The flowers have 5 small sepals and 5 small petals. The flowers are reddish or green in color and male flowers are most noticeable because of the anthers. The fruit is a tan colored samara that is about 2 inches in length. Gray Squirrels often cut off small shoots in the spring to tap the sweet sap. Silver Maple is readily available from nurseries, and several cultivars have been selected. It thrives in most soils but care should be taken not to girdle the trunk with lawn equipment. It is a fairly weak tree and subject to damage from wind and ice storms.—A. Diamond

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Native FACW (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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