Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum

Aceraceae - Maple Family 
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 4
Silver Maple Tree
Acer saccharinum

Spring

Silver Maple samaras. www.robert-priddy-photography.com

The Silver Maples have these incredible samaras "helicopters" that we see flying through the air. 
You can always identify the silver maple by its leaves. They are green on one side and silver on the other. They are deeply lobed. The bark is shaggy and the helicopters are big and fly! 

The Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum

This Silver Maple lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

The Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum

Summer

The Silver Maple Tree

I took this photo in Cookeville, Tennessee. This silver maple is so big and beautiful I may submit it to the champion tree program; first, I will have to measure it. 


The average height of a silver maple is around 50 - 80 feet. The silver maple usually has two trunks supporting the massive branches. Large roots can usually be seen growing around the base of the tree for three feet or more.

Fall 

The Silver Maple Tree

The Silver Maple Tree

This Silver Maple lives in Cookeville, Tennessee.  I love to go visit this tree for it lives besides my sister's house.  

Winter

This Acer saccharinum tree lives at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville. 

Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum, Botanical Gardens of Asheville

The Bark of  the silver maple tree when young, is smooth and gray.  When this tree matures, the bark is silvery gray that looks shaggy as long pieces of bark turn up at the ends.  These pictures are of a fully mature silver maple that is probably near 100 feet tall.

Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum, Botanical Gardens of Asheville

I encourage you to go into nature and enjoy the peace that surrounds you.

The Champion Silver Maple Trees

The North Carolina Champion Silver Maple lives in Buncombe County, NC.  It is 98 feet high and has a circumference of 280 inches.  

You can read more about this champion tree program by going to the North Carolina forestry website.

https://www.ncforestservice.gov

My favorite Silver Maple Tree

I have three favorite Silver Maple trees.  The first one lives at the Botanical Gardens in Asheville.  The other two live with my family; one, at my daughter's house and one, at my sister's house.


If anyone wants to go meet the silver maple at the Botanical Gardens in Asheville, NC, get in touch with me at celerylady@gmail.com or leave a comment here.  I will give you directions or you can meet me there.

Plant a Silver Maple Tree

Why plant a silver maple? 

"The abundant seeds of silver maples are eaten by many birds, including evening grosbeaks, finches, wild turkeys, ducks and other game birds, and small mammals, especially squirrels and chipmunks. The buds are an important food for squirrels when stored food is depleted, particularly in late winter and early spring. The bark is a food source for beavers and deer and rabbits browse the foliage. Silver maple tends to develop cavities that are used by cavity nesting birds and mammals and provide shelter and breeding habitat for many other species, including raccoons, opossums, squirrels, owls, woodpeckers, and many other birds. Because of its abundance and wide distribution of silver maple, its early-produced pollen may be important to the biology of bees and other pollen dependent insects. Most references describe red maple as wind pollinated, but insect pollination may be important, as many insects, especially bees."

qutote from the usda plant guides.

For the love of the trees,
Becky

The Silver Maple from my journal.