Written and Narrated by Ed Miller.
All six native species of Maple are here. The Red and Sugar Maples are older trees that were growing here when we started. The rest are growing from seedlings or cuttings.
Silver Maple is a tree that prefers wetlands. Here with its relatives it isn't happy. A more vigorous specimen grows in our wet habitat.
The two shrub maples, Striped and Mountain, are ahead on the left. They also would prefer a wetter habitat but seem to be OK.
Black Maple was lumped with Sugar Maple until recently. It prefers a limey soil. Note that the leaves look droopy; in spring and summer, the edges of the leaves have hairs and the bottom of the leaves are downy. Compare this with the Sugar Maple nearby.
Two common maples of the North East are not planted here, although I would like them here for comparison. The Norway Maple is very invasive, and I don't want to be the person that brings it here. The box elder (aka Ash Leaved Maple) was introduced from the Midwest, and is also an invasive maple. Its leaves are so distinctive that no one should confuse it with other maples of New York.
Ed Miller, curator, Landis Native Plant Trail, February 7, 2013