What Are the Different Types of Maple Trees?
Common varieties of maple trees include the red maple, silver maple, sugar maple and sycamore maple. There are more than 128 species of maple trees, some of which are native to North America, while others are native to Asia or Europe.
Red maple trees, which are also known as scarlet maples and soft maples, are native to the eastern United States and Canada. They generally reach a height of 30 to 100 feet when mature. Red maples have leaves that are partially red and green in the summer and then turn bright red in the fall. Silver maple leaves are green in the summer and turn orange or yellow in the fall. Trees of this variety are also native to the eastern United States and Canada, and are one of the most common tree varieties in the United States.
The sugar maple, named for its bountiful sap, is the official tree of Canada. Sap from this tree is higher in sugar than that of other maple trees and is thus commonly used to make maple syrup. Sugar maple leaves are green in the summer, and yellow, red or orange in the fall. They tolerate shade better than other maple varieties. Sycamore maples, also known as Scottish maples, have green leaves that turn yellow-brown in fall. Native to Europe and Asia, these trees grow mostly in rural areas since they are not tolerant of urban pollution.
