Monday 13 October 2014

New Hampshire Maple Tree Identification

Most New Hampshire maples feature simple leaves with lobes.


New Hampshire maple species includes types such as the red, sugar, silver, mountain and striped maple as well as the boxelder. These New Hampshire maple trees have specific features to help identify them. Does this Spark an idea?


Leaves


The leaves of all New Hampshire maple trees are simple, with the exception of the boxelder. Boxelder leaves are compound, composed of as many as nine individual leaflets attached to a central stem. All other New Hampshire maples have foliage with distinct lobes, with the leaves having from three to five lobes.


Seeds


Maple tree seeds, known as samaras, are different from the seeds of most New Hampshire trees. Samaras typically grow attached to each other at one end, making them resemble a pair of miniature wings. Once dislodged from the maple, the samaras helicopter down to earth.


Size


New Hampshire maple trees range in size from the sugar maple, a tree capable of being 100 feet tall, to the much shorter striped maple, a 15- to 20-foot high tree. The red maple grows to 80 feet, while the mountain maple develops to the 40-foot range. Boxelders mature to between 30 and 60 feet, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region."

Tags: Hampshire maple, Hampshire maple trees, maple trees, Hampshire maples, striped maple