Maple trees are a common sight, and their bark offers distinctive clues for identification. While leaves and overall tree shape are often primary identifiers, bark provides a reliable feature, especially when leaves are absent. Understanding maple bark helps differentiate species and distinguish maples from other trees.
Common Characteristics of Maple Bark
Many maple species share general bark characteristics, though specific textures and patterns vary. Young maple trees typically exhibit smooth bark, ranging from light gray to various shades of brown. This smooth texture gradually changes as the tree matures, developing into more complex patterns. The bark commonly forms furrows, ridges, or plates that run vertically along the trunk. This progression from smooth to a more textured surface is a common trait across many maple species.
Identifying Specific Maple Species by Bark
The bark provides unique characteristics that help distinguish different maple species.
Sugar Maple
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) bark is typically grayish-brown. As it ages, it develops long, irregular vertical furrows and ridges, which can sometimes appear shaggy or form thick, curling plates.
Red Maple
Red Maple (Acer rubrum) bark becomes darker and rougher with maturity, often breaking into long, narrow, scaly plates that may flake off, sometimes revealing an orangish inner bark.
Silver Maple
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) bark becomes darker and can appear shaggy as the tree matures, exfoliating in long, thin strips or flakes that peel away from the trunk.
Norway Maple
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) bark becomes deeply furrowed with intersecting ridges, often forming diamond-shaped patterns. The furrows are typically dark and prominent, and this bark type generally does not flake or peel.
Bark Changes with Age and Distinguishing from Other Trees
Bark undergoes significant transformations as a tree ages, impacting its appearance. As the tree grows, its smooth surface gradually develops into the characteristic furrows, ridges, or plates specific to its species.
Distinguishing maple bark from other tree species requires observing specific details. Ash trees, for instance, often have deeply furrowed bark with a diamond-shaped pattern, but ash furrows are usually more uniform. Oak bark tends to be much rougher and thicker with deep vertical fissures, often appearing blockier or more gnarled than maple bark, and is generally darker. Birch trees are identified by their distinct horizontal lenticels and bark that often peels horizontally in papery layers, a feature not found in maples. Cherry bark, while sometimes smooth and dark with horizontal lenticels when young, does not develop the deep furrows or shaggy peeling common to many mature maples.