Description
Acer saccharum – Sugar Maple
Quality: 1/1 P 30-50
Brief description: The Sugar Maple is the national tree of Canada and the source of authentic maple syrup. In autumn, it surpasses almost all other deciduous trees with a display of colors ranging from bright yellow and orange to deep scarlet. With its broad oval crown and stately growth up to 25 m, it is a representative specimen tree for parks and large gardens with sufficient space.
Climatic characteristics & site conditions: The Sugar Maple prefers fresh, deep, and well-drained soils with sufficient soil moisture; it grows poorly on dry, shallow, or highly calcareous soils. It is hardy down to –30 °C, making it unproblematic in the harsh high altitudes of Southern Germany. In warm summers with prolonged drought—as increasingly seen in the Rhine Valley and Franconia—it shows signs of drought stress. It is better suited for the fresh, humid locations of the Alpine foothills and the Black Forest than for dry, warm locations.
Advantages: Most spectacular autumn foliage of all maple species, very hardy, stately habit, long-lived, robust on fresh soils.
Disadvantages: Non-native, sensitive to summer drought, unsuitable for highly calcareous soils, high space requirement, no ecological value for native insects, less suitable for dry, warm locations in Southern Germany.
