Organic Forest Plants & More

Red Maple

Trees and Shrubs

Zones

:3 - 9

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Tree / Shrub

Mature Size: 90 feet

Flowers: Flowering: (February-)March-April, before the vegetative buds, one of the first trees to flower in the spring.

Fruit:

Common alternate names for Red Maple:  scarlet maple, swamp maple, soft maple, Carolina red maple, Drummond red maple, and water maple

Scientific name for Red Maple:  Acer Rubrum

Planting Information: 

Colors:

Edible - food uses of Red Maple:  The sap of red maple is sometimes used for producing maple syrup.

Healing medicinal qualities of Red Maple:  Native Americans used red maple bark as an analgesic, wash for inflamed eyes and cataracts, and as a remedy for hives and muscular aches. Tea brewed from the inner bark has been used for treating coughs and diarrhea. Pioneers made cinnamon-brown and black dyes from a bark extract. Iron sulphate was added to the tannin from red maple bark to make ink.

Other uses for Red Maple:   Red maple is commonly used for revegetation work and landscaping.  The white, fine-grained wood is used for furniture, flooring, cabinetry, paneling, veneer, musical instruments, tool handles, cutting boards, butcher blocks, wooden bowls, boxes and crates, and many other uses. Red maple is an excellent wood for fuel and is also used for saw timber and pulpwood.

Wildlife:  Red maple seeds provide food for squirrels and some birds but is not preferred by deer.

General description and characteristics of Red Maple:

Red maple has long been valued as an ornamental tree (shade, specimen, autumn accent, or wet site) because of its ease of establishment, rapid growth, brightly colored flowers and fruit, and fall leaf colors (ranging from clear yellow to orange to vivid red) displaying coloring during different seasons of the year. This tree is preferred over silver maple or boxelder when a fast growing maple is needed. Red maple can be planted onto many types of disturbed sites in rehabilitation projects.