Leaf: edges firm and sharply toothed, opposite, simple
Flower: Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but sometimes on the same tree, in clusters, greenish yellow, appearing as the leaves begin to unfold.
Fruit: Composed of a wing with a seed at the base, greenish yellow
Twig: slender, smooth, brown, often with pale lenticels; leaf scars opposite, U-shaped, with 3-7 bundle traces.
Bark: gray to dark brown to black, becoming furrowed and scaly.
Form: medium to large tree up to 80 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 3 feet; crown broadly rounded, with many branches.
The sugar maple tree is the principle source of maple sugar. The trees are tapped early in the spring for the first flow of sap, which usually has the highest sugar content. The sap is collected and boiled or evaporated to a syrup. Further concentration by evaporation produces the maple sugar. Sugar maple sap averages about 2.5 percent sugar and about 34 gallons of the sap are required to make one gallon of syrup or two pounds of sugar. The sugar maple is also used for cabinetry, interior joinery, bowling pins, bowling lanes, school desks, ladder rungs, counter tops, cutting boards, textile rollers, sports goods, string instruments, and paneling. The sugar maple trees are located in northeast United States and in southern Canada. There are a lot here in Illinois.
There are two Sugar Maples behind Meissner Elementary School, 504 E. Warren St., Bunker Hill, IL. 62014.
Latitude: N39° 2.470'
Longitude: W89°56.906'
© Community Unit School District #8 Bunker Hill, 504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL 62014