May 2024 Tree of the Month: Red Maple

May 2024 Tree of the Month: Red Maple 

This month’s tree is a terrific native tree, the Red Maple (Acer rubrum). It is one of the most widespread trees in eastern North America, growing from the Maritimes to the Midwest and south to Florida. It is tolerant of many types of soil types, textures, moisture, and pH levels, and can be found nearly anywhere in the region. Red maples thrive in full sun to part shade and have a modest lifespan of 100 to 150 years, typical characteristics for a mid-successional forest tree. 

Red maples are not difficult to identify, especially in summer and fall, when palmate leaves with three or five lobes appear. The leaves may be green earlier in the summer but by fall they will typically turn brilliant red or orange. In winter, the tree’s smooth, silvery grey bark provides garden interest. In March and April, red showy blooms appear on male branches and provide early season forage for native bees. The samara-shaped seeds are the helicopters of childhood play times.  

Red Maples are among the first trees to flower in the Spring with dense clusters of red flowers appearing in late March to early April before the leaves appear. The flowers are highly visible to insect pollinators and easily wind pollinated because leaves are not present to cause obstruction. Although small, these flowers reward closer viewing and are extravagantly showy. 

Red maples are very beneficial to wildlife, providing food for 285 types of butterflies and moths, per research done by Dr. Doug Tallamy and his team at the University of Delaware. This is important because birds need insect larvae to feed their young; no insects, no birds! 

If you are ready for some homemade maple syrup, get your buckets ready in January or February. While sugar maples have the highest concentrations of sugar, if you can get about 5 gallons of red maple sap, you’ll be able to make approximately 16 ounces of maple syrup. Make sure your tree is at least 40 years old before tapping it, though! 

If you plant a young red maple on your property, be prepared to protect it from deer, who like to browse the tender shoots. 

Red Maples are the most common street tree in Cranford, making up about 11 percent of our tree canopy with 623 trees. The Township will be planting 12 new red maples in May of this year; keep an eye out for them in a rumble strip near you!