Sugar Maple
(Acer saccharum)
Brief Natural History Information
- Rounded crown. Mature trees can range from 60 to 100 feet in height.
- Bark: gray with rough, vertical grooves
- Twigs: glossy and reddish-brown. Buds occur opposite from one another along the twig. Buds are brown and are characterized by a sharp point on their end.
- Leaves: Characterized by 5 lobes with deep, rounded notches separating the lobes
- Habitat: Deciduous forest in moist, upland soils. Also occurs in dry or poorer soils but the tree does not thrive under these conditions.
- Range: Eastern United States to southern and central Canada
Jeepers Peepers Activity
(1) Using the Internet (see Web Resources page) and books - teach the students to properly identify a sugar maple and budburst. You may find using this budburst protocol helpful for observing maple budburst.
(2) Starting February 27, each day inquire of your students if anyone has spotted a maple in budburst. Ask them to bring a specimen in to share with the class. Record the date, and submit the date of the third sighting to DEP. Only the earliest date of the first tree to budburst (observed by each school) will be plotted on the Jeepers Peepers budburst map.
Here is a helpful picture for identifying maple budburst. Notice that the first tiny leaves are just beginning to emerge from the maple bud.
