Acer saccharum aka Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum, commonly known as the sugar maple, is a large deciduous tree native to eastern Canada and eastern United States. It belongs to the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. This tree is renowned for being the primary source of maple syrup and for its vibrant fall foliage. It is also referred to as "rock maple," "sugar tree," "birds-eye maple," "sweet maple," "curly maple," or "hard maple," especially when discussing its wood. The sugar maple grows up to 20m tall with a dense, oval to rounded crown. It features large, dull-green, three- to five-lobed leaves that transform into brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow during autumn. In spring, it produces greenish-yellow flowers in short, upright sprays. The tree is typically found in hardwood forests across eastern Canada, from Nova Scotia to southeastern Manitoba, and in the northeastern and northcentral regions of the United States, from Minnesota to Maine and southward to Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri. Forest-grown sugar maples have taller trunks and narrower canopies compared to open-growth ones. The deciduous leaves are palmate, up to 20 cm long and wide, with five lobes. The basal lobes are small, while the upper lobes are larger and deeply notched, with rounded interior notches. During fall, the sugar maple's foliage displays a stunning array of colors, ranging from bright yellow to fluorescent red-orange. Some trees exhibit multiple colors simultaneously, while others show uneven coloration. Leaf buds are brown and pointy, while the recent year's growth twigs are green and turn dark brown. In early spring, after 30–55 growing degree days, the sugar maple produces yellow-green flowers in panicles of five to ten. These flowers lack petals. The tree typically starts flowering between 10 and 200 years of age. Its fruit consists of paired samaras, or winged seeds, with globose seeds measuring 7–10 mm in diameter and wings 2–3 cm long. The seeds fall in autumn and require 45 days of temperatures below 4 °C to break their coating down. Germination occurs in the following spring when the soil has warmed and frost danger has passed. Some botanists consider the black maple (Acer nigrum) as part of Acer saccharum, while others separate it as a distinct species. The western American bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) is also sometimes classified as a variety or subspecies of sugar maple.