Breezes can carry the seeds far from the parent tree, thus helping maples spread to new areas. Maples are an important source of lumber. Some species have very hard, strong wood. Manufacturers use it to make furniture and musical instruments. The sap of certain maple species is used to make maple syrup.
People also plant maples as shade trees.
Fourteen species are native to North America. They grow mostly in the eastern half of the continent. Sugar maple is one of the most common trees in the broadleaf forests of southeastern Canada and the northeastern quarter of the United States. The sugar maple is most common in areas that are neither swampy nor very dry. Sugar maple wood is the hardest and strongest maple wood.