A Look at the Different Kinds of Maple Trees

Maple trees are loved for many reasons: their bushy canopies provide lots of shade in the summer, they are sturdy trees, and their iconic leaves offer a show in a range of colors throughout autumn. However, a maple isn’t just a maple! There are many varieties of maple trees out there, each with a distinctive character. Here, we’ll profile some of the most common species of maple that you may find across Nashville. 

How Many Species of Maple Trees Are There in the United States?

While all maple trees have certain similarities, which is why they are all grouped into the genus Acer, there are many species of maple trees that can be found in the Northern Hemisphere. There are 13 species of maple that are native to North America and about ten times that number across the world, at nearly 130 types of maple trees found in America, Europe, and Asia. 

Despite the unique aspects of each maple species, every maple tree has samara seeds (more commonly known as helicopters or propeller seeds), with flowers that bloom in spring and leaves that drop throughout fall. Almost all types of maple trees are great habitats for wildlife as well, providing dense foliage, high refuge, and nutritious forage for squirrels, birds, and other small to medium-sized mammals. The spring flowers of maple trees are also important resources for local pollinators of all kinds. All maples also have their distinctive pointy-lobed leaf, although the forms and color will vary from species to species. 

Perhaps the most well-known American maple is the sugar maple, although red and silver maples are equally popular choices for planting. Non-native but similarly common varieties of maples include the Norway and Japanese maples, each getting attention for their own particular ornamental or functional contributions to a location’s canopy.

Sugar Maple Trees 

The famous sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is an important economic and ecological fixture, being the premier syrup-producing maple tree. It’s common across the eastern and northeastern American continent, and this is the species that lends its leaf’s shape to the Canadian flag; the defining feature of the sugar maple leaf is its pointed, five-lobed shape. This tree does best in soil that’s not too wet and not too dry, and it is one of the maples that is quite tolerant of shade. However, it doesn’t do very well in compacted or salty soil, making it a better choice for large yards or parks rather than along streets or in areas with lots of foot traffic. Its bark is strong, with flaky-looking sheets in vertical ridges. A sugar maple’s autumnal colors may range from yellow to orange and red.

Red Maple Trees

Although the sugar maple is the poster child of maple trees, red maples (Acer rubrum) are the most common species across eastern North America. While they aren’t the best for syrup production, red maple trees offer equally dense foliage and ornamental value. In certain ways, they are hardier than their sugary cousins, being tolerant of a wide variety of soil types and weather, ranging from Florida to upper Canada. Red maples are among the first trees to bloom in spring, putting out red flowers that are important for pollinators early in the year. Their leaves have three to five lobes. The red maple’s bark forms in thin, vertical ridges that will easily chip off. This common landscape tree is a great neighborhood tree since it can tolerate wet soil and flooding (it’s sometimes known as the swamp maple). However, it has shallow roots, which means that it shouldn’t be planted too close to structures or paving. In fall, this maple’s leaves give a fiery red display, hence its name.

Norway Maple Trees

The Norway maple tree (Acer platanoides) isn’t native to America; this is a widely planted tree that is considered invasive since it will out-compete native trees in wild areas due to its shade tolerance and quick growth speed. Norway maples have a distinctive interlacing bark pattern with a round, dense crown and large leaves that maintain the distinctive five-lobed shape of the Acer genus. This tree doesn’t live as long as other maple species, and it has a shallow root system similar to a red maple. While these maples aren’t great street trees for those reasons, they’re commonly planted in urban areas because they have a high tolerance to pollution, drought, wetness, and acidic soils. Norway maples can be identified by their milky secretion when leaves and twigs are plucked (a feature that other maples don’t share). In fall, they display bright yellow to reddish-purple foliage, depending on the cultivar.

Silver Maple Trees

Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) trees get their name from the silvery-blue underside of their leaves, making them easily identified from other varieties of maples. Their leaves have five lobes and tend to be thinner and more serrated or jagged than other types of maples. This tree is native to America and is widespread across the northern continent. The silver maple may not make the best tree for your yard because its limb growth structure is often weak and can lead to easy breakage during storms. They shouldn’t be planted near structures. Silver maples are a fast-growing and long-lived tree; in the fall, their showy colors range from yellow to red.

Japanese Maple Trees

Another non-native, the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), is a widely planted tree for its unique ornamental value. There are many cultivars of Japanese maples that mostly come in dwarf and small to medium sizes with a wide variety of shapes. They are beloved for their delicate, thin leaves that are miniature versions of their much larger maple relatives. Some Japanese varieties stand upright, while others have a weeping or cascading shape that provides a unique understory specimen for ornamentation. While these trees come in a variety of shapes and colors, the most popular cultivars have red to purple leaves throughout summer and fall, and many have red bark that continues to provide a distinctive garden embellishment over winter. 

A Few Other Maple Varieties

Other popular and distinctive types of maples include the box elder, paperbark, and sycamore maples. Box elder trees (Acer negundo) are medium-sized trees that are sometimes used as a large shrub, with small leaves that don’t have the distinctive maple shape. They have three individual lobes that grow on the same twig, but not in the standard maple shape. They grow quickly, with multiple, thin trunks, and they do well in moist and acidic soil.

The paperbark maple (Acer griseum) has leaves that are similar in form to the box elder, with three-lobed leaves that each look like an individual leaf. This is a shorter understory maple that is tolerant of moist soil and will do well in clay soil where other maples don’t. The paperbark maple has a thin trunk with brown bark that peels off like a birch tree, which is the trait that gives it its common name. 

The sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is another full-sized canopy maple tree that isn’t native to America, but it can be found around many towns due to its tolerance of medium-moist soil and partial shade, as well as its large shade-giving leaves that are wide and round, similar to those of a true sycamore tree (which, in turn, are five-lobed and pointed, resembling maple leaves).

So Many Maples!

We love Maple trees in all of their many forms. For more information on tree varieties, care tips, and canopy-related news, sign up for the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps’ newsletter to receive regular blog updates. Consider volunteering with us, and if you’re in the market for some new trees, browse our tree sale to help keep Nashville’s green cover growing!