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A Walk in the Woods: Red maple – a great tree for all occasions

Red maple trees may be one of the most easily identified tree species we have in Canada. However, it doesn’t get the respect and appreciation it deserves.

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It is often mistaken for sugar maple or silver maple, or maybe the evil cousin, Norway maple.

Red maple is the star of the autumn show, which draws the busloads of tourists to enjoy our lovely red and orange fall colours. If you ask high school students what causes leaves to be green, many of them will know it is a fancy word – chlorophyll.

However, if you ask them what causes red maple leaves to turn red in the fall, they usually do not know. It is made possible by the chlorophyll breaking down and the production of a new pigment called anthocyanin. Most other leaves do not contain anthocyanin, except for a few notable ones, such as burning bush, Japanese maple, and staghorn sumac.

Red maple is a common species in Canadian forests. Compared to sugar maple, it has a huge range across a large section of North America, as far south as Texas and Florida.

It is a very versatile and tough tree species. Unlike sugar maples, which grow on a relatively narrow range of site conditions and climates, red maple may be found on a wide variety of conditions. For instance, here in Nova Scotia, they are commonly found surrounding wet, swampy areas but also on dry ridges........

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