By Ginger Anderson Sugar season will soon be here, bringing the sweet aroma of boiling sap. Found statewide on well-drained, moderately fertile soils, there are probably more individual sugar maple trees growing in Vermont than any other tree species. Sugar maples range between 50 and 90 feet in height, with broad-shouldered crowns supported by upright branches. Mature tree diameters can be two to three feet through. Opposite-branching, the twigs are smooth and reddish brown with pointed buds, while limbs and stems of younger trees are smooth and gray.
Older trees tend to have gray-brown bark furrowed into long, irregular plates.
Sugar maple leaves are usually three to six inches across with five distinct lobes separated by shallow rounded sinuses. The delicate yellow-green flowers appear in late April to early May before the leaves unfurl to hide the developing samaras. A variety of insects find sugar maple tempting, but health monitoring studies have shown the vigorous tree to be remarkably resilient to all but the most intense attacks of native pests. Sugar maple s valuable wood is heavy and durable enough for flooring and other rugged uses. Wood color ranges from creamy to reddish, and some individual trees exhibit attractive, unusual grains such as curly or birdseye maple which are prized for furniture, cabinetry and bowls.