Black maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig. Red maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig. Silver maple bark, fruit, leaf, and twig. Species Suitable for Maple Product Production Sugar and Black Maple Sugar and black maple are very similar species and unquestionably the most preferred species for producing maple products, primarily because of their high sugar content. Sugar and black maples are found on a variety of soils and site conditions, but neither tolerates excessively wet or dry sites, and both grow best on moist, deep, well-drained soils.
Black maple is more likely to be found along moist river bottoms.
Both species can be found growing in pure stands, with each other, or with a wide variety of other hardwood species including American beech, American basswood, yellow birch, black cherry, northern red oak, yellow poplar and black walnut. Both species have been planted extensively as roadside trees which are often tapped as part of a sugaring operation. Plantations of sugar maple have also been established with the intent of developing efficient, productive sugarbushes. Both species are relatively long lived, capable of living well beyond 200 years, with trunk diameters greater than 30 inches and heights greater than 100 feet. Sugar and black maple are particularly attractive as sugartrees because of their high sap sugar content and the late date at which they begin growth in the spring.