For starters, it's a very attractive tree, becoming downright spectacular in the fall. Sugar maples have rather short trunks but large, dense crowns. Maples have long been revered as shade and ornamental trees. The sugar maple's glory is its fiery autumn crown. As the days grow shorter, green chlorophyll slowly ebbs out of the leaves of various tree species.
Green forests give way to multi-colored displays.
But few trees are as spectacular in autum as the sugar maple. Its leaves transform into brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds. The sugar maple offers a special surprise each season. In winter, when most deciduous trees stand leafless and neglected, sugar maples attract some of their biggest fans. Sugarmakers drill small holes in the maples and insert spouts, which empty into buckets.