Maple is any of about 150 species of broadleaf trees and shrubs common in forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Most maples grow in regions with moderate climates. About two-thirds of all maple species are native to China. Other species are native to other parts of Asia, Europe, North America, and northern Africa.

Maples are easy to recognize because their leaves grow in pairs on opposite sides of the branch, and each leaf has several lobes (drawing).  Nearly all maples lose their leaves in the autumn. In numerous species of maples, the leaves turn bright orange, red, or yellow before they drop off.  Sugar or hard maples turn a bright orange or red, and silver or soft maples tend to turn yellow.

Maples flower in the spring, either before or at the same time the leaves appear. Most maples bear male and female flowers on the same tree. Maple seeds grow in pairs and have flat thin wings (drawing) that make them whirl and float in the wind as they fall. Breezes can carry the seeds far from the parent tree, thus helping maples spread to new areas.

Maples are an important source of lumber. There are an exceptional number of figures found in maple.  Most are prevalent only in hard maple, while some specialized figures occur more often but less dramatically in softer species of maple.  Some species have very hard, strong wood. Manufacturers use it to make furniture and musical instruments. The sap of certain maple species (hard/sugar) is used to make maple syrup. People also plant maples as shade trees.

North American maples

Fourteen species are native to North America. They grow mostly in the eastern half of the continent.

Sugar maple is one of the most common trees in the broadleaf forests of southeastern Canada and the northeastern quarter of the United States. This tree typically grows 75 to 100 feet (23 to 30 meters) tall and measures 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 centimeters) in diameter at its base. However, it may reach a height of 135 feet (41 meters) tall and a diameter of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters).

Sugar maple wood is the hardest and strongest maple wood. It polishes well and is widely used for furniture, cabinets, and violins and other musical instruments. It is also used for making bowling alleys. Some sugar maple wood has an unusual grain pattern that makes it particularly beautiful and valuable. This wood can be curly, birdseye, ambrosia, raisin, quilted, burled…spalted (pic) is the fungal attack that can interact with the wood and also create dramatic figure.  Boxelder is a close cousin of maple and exhibits the same figure types, but the spalted fungal attack in boxelder appears like red flames throughout wherever damage has allowed the fungus to enter the wood.

People also value the sugar maple for its sweet, flavorful sap. The sap rises in the trunks in the spring. Syrup producers collect the sap from pipes driven into the tree trunks.