Are Maple Trees Hardwood

The sugar maple tree or acer saccharum is classified as a hard hardwood maple tree.

Are maple trees hardwood.

The wood of the sugar maple is strong heavy and hard with a light brown to reddish color. Most softwoods have a lower density than most hardwoods. Examples of softwood trees are cedar douglas fir juniper pine redwood spruce and yew. While it can be an excellent tree for landscaping it also presents some undesirable characteristics.

Softwood comes from a conifer cone bearing or evergreen trees such as pine or spruce. All maples are hardwoods but the species found in america are further classified as hard or soft maples. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple. The most common hard maple is the sugar or rock maple.

They typically have either 5 or 7 lobes with vivid autumn coloring ranging from yellow to purplish red. Most hardwoods have a higher density than most softwoods. Examples of hardwood trees include alder balsa beech hickory mahogany maple oak teak and walnut. The wood is strong stiff and shock resistant.

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. Most hardwood trees are deciduous trees which lose their leaves annually like elm or maple. Sugar maple s leaves pictured below are the shape that most people associate with maple leaves. The grain of sugar maple is usually straight sometimes displaying attractive curly or bird s eye patterns.

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. 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 and black maple are hard. It grows natively in the northeastern regions of the united states and can reach a height of more than 100 feet at maturity.

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 texture and density of the wood a tree produces puts it in either the hardwood or softwood category. Acer ˈ eɪ s ər is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples the genus is placed in the family sapindaceae.

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.