It has a life expectancy of about one hundred years. Maple trees thrive in a soil that is acidic and slightly sandy. It prefers a climate that is temperate, but some species can grow in the tropics where weather is hot and rainy. The maple has a very hard wood which makes it good for making furniture and lumber. It has a sugary sap which gives us maple syrup.
Hard maple is used as a fuel, veneer, railroad ties and pulpwood.
The pioneers used its ashes to make soap. Some things can cause damage to the maple such as insects which bore into the bark or eat the leaves. Maples are damaged by tent caterpillars, sugar maple borers, plant lice, scales, and galls.