The Red Maple A Hardwood Tree

A sugar maple s wood is the most dense of all maple wood and is used frequently in furniture and flooring.

The red maple a hardwood tree. They produce a fruit or nut and often go dormant in the winter. The texture and density of the wood a tree produces puts it in either the hardwood or softwood category. The red maple or acer rubrum is classified as a soft hardwood tree. Red maple can also be seen with curly or quilted grain patterns.

Most hardwood trees are deciduous trees which lose their leaves annually like elm or maple. Red maple trees should be planted in a location in full sun and ample moisture in the soil. The red maple ranges from southeastern manitoba around the lake of the woods on the border with ontario and minnesota east to. Red maple transplants easily at any age has an oval shape and is a fast grower with strong wood and grows into a medium large tree of about 40 to 70.

Now it may look like hard maple is heads and tails above the rest and to a certain extent it is but for reference black cherry has a janka hardness of 950 lb f the same as red maple and black walnut is rated at 1 010 lb f 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. A fast growing hardwood the tulip tree can. In fact about 40 percent of american trees are in the hardwood category. Unlike most other hardwoods the sapwood of maple lumber is most commonly used rather than its heartwood sapwood color ranges from almost white to a light golden or reddish brown while the heartwood is a darker reddish brown.

The red maple is best grown in soil that has a ph of neutral to acidic in the range of 3 7 to 7 0. A few well known hardwood species are oak maple and cherry but many. Putting organic mulch around the tree can also aid in holding in moisture. Silver maple this tree is close behind the sugar maple in terms of being the most prolific tree in north america.

Softwood comes from a conifer cone bearing or evergreen trees such as pine or spruce. Grain is generally straight but may be wavy. The trees have broad leaves rather than needle like leaves. The wood is heavy and soft which makes it ideal for commercial uses such as making furniture pallets and crating.

In the united states red maples are widely disbursed. With leaves that look very similar to the sugar maple the silver maple s leaves are thinner with more defined points. Acer rubrum the red maple also known as swamp water or soft maple is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central north america the u s. The silver undersides of its leaves not only give the silver maple its name but also lend the tree a shimmering silver appearance in the breeze.