Are Maple Trees Hardwood

The wood of the sugar maple is strong heavy and hard with a light brown to reddish color.

Are maple trees hardwood.

The maple tree is a member of a group of 200 species of trees and shrubs worldwide that belong to the acer family. Maple trees are classified as either hard or soft. The wood is strong stiff and shock resistant. Examples of softwood trees are cedar douglas fir juniper pine redwood spruce and yew.

Acer ˈ eɪ s ər is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples the genus is placed in the family sapindaceae. Most softwoods have a lower density than most hardwoods. Acer saccharum the sugar maple or rock maple is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family sapindaceae it is native to the hardwood forests of eastern canada from nova scotia west through southern quebec central and southern ontario to southeastern manitoba around lake of the woods and the northern parts of the central and northeastern united states from minnesota. Sugar maple and black maple are hard.

The grain of sugar maple is usually straight sometimes displaying attractive curly or bird s eye patterns. While it can be an excellent tree for landscaping it also presents some undesirable characteristics. The most common hard maple is the sugar or rock maple. It grows natively in the northeastern regions of the united states and can reach a height of more than 100 feet at maturity.

There are approximately 128 species most of which are native to asia with a number also appearing in europe northern africa and north america only one species acer laurinum extends to the southern hemisphere. The silver maple tree acer saccharinum is one the most common trees of north america it generally grows 50 to 80 feet tall though a 10 year old sapling will stand approximately 25 feet tall. Hard maple is a workable wood resistant to abrasion with a uniform texture and fine grain. Most hardwoods have a higher density than most softwoods.

Most hardwood trees are deciduous trees which lose their leaves annually like elm or maple. In tree form hard maple is usually referred to as sugar maple and is the tree most often tapped for maple syrup. The sugar maple tree or acer saccharum is classified as a hard hardwood maple tree. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple.

Taking the hardness data within context of other hardwoods soft maple may be used as a valid substitute for hard maple in most situations where a hardwood of moderate density is called for. Sugar maple s leaves pictured below are the shape that most people associate with maple leaves. All maples are hardwoods but the species found in america are further classified as hard or soft maples. Also note that black maple not pictured isn t quite as hard as its close relative hard maple and ranks in the mid range with a hardness of 1 180 lb f.

They typically have either 5 or 7 lobes with vivid autumn coloring ranging from yellow to purplish red.