Sugar maple

Acer saccharum

The Acer genus includes some hundred species, most of which are to be found in Central Asia. North America has 13 indigenous species, including the sugar maple. This magnificent maple averages a height of 25 to 28 metres (82 to 92 ft.)(8) and may even reach 35 to 40 metres (115 to 131 ft.).(2,3) The sugar maple offers a dazzling mixture of colours in the fall, when its leaves change to yellow, orange, or are touched with red.(2) It is a hardwood tree that prefers rich, well-drained soil. It grows in massive stands, and re-growths are very tolerant to an environment with little sunlight.(2,3) A number of factors can cause deterioration in a maple forest and these include insects, diseases, the climate and, of course, atmospheric pollution.(2) 

The sugar maple has very important fallout in Canada, and more especially in Quebec. Not only is it a commercial tree species used for its wood (cabinet making, flooring, furniture, etc.), but the sap of this tree gives us the world-famous maple syrup.(8)          

The first French settlers learned from the American Indians the techniques for collecting the maple sap and boiling it into a syrup(3,10) (40 litres of sap produce 1 litre of syrup(2)). This product, for the settlers of the 17th and 18th centuries, constituted a major source of pure sugar. As a result, maple syrup has become part of Quebec culture and a major industry. Our province produces about 70% of the world supply of maple syrup, the rest coming from the other Canadian provinces (~10%) and the United States (~20%). The greater part of the maple syrup produced in Quebec is exported.(10)

Depending on the boiling temperature, maple-based products are as follows: syrup, maple butter, maple taffy, soft sugar, hard sugar, extremely hard sugar and, also, granulated sugar. Stem-off products from the syrup production are endless and limited only by the imagination of the producers and of chefs!

Finally, in 1965, the red maple, a related species, became the emblematic tree of Canada, when a stylised maple leaf was added to the national flag.(2,3)

REFERENCES       

1)        Burt, William H. and Richard P. Grossenheider.  1992.  Les mammifères de l’Amérique du Nord (au nord du Mexique).  Éditions Broquet inc. Quebec. Canada.

2)        Farrar, John L. 1995.  Les arbres du Canada.  2nd edition. Fides. Canada

3)    Frère Marie-Victorin É.C. 1995.  Flore Laurentienne.  3rd edition. Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. Quebec. Canada.

4)    Gauthier, Robert.  2001.  Les sphaignes boréales.  Le Naturaliste Canadien.  Quebec.  Canada.  125(3).

5)    Groupe Fleurbec.  1987.  Plantes sauvages des lacs, rivières et tourbières.  Fleurbec.  Quebec.  Canada.

6)    Kaufman, Kenn.  2000.  Birds of North America.  Houghton Mifflin Company.  New York.  New York.

7)    Prescott, Jacques and Pierre Richard.  1996.  Mammifères du Québec et de l’Est du Canada.   Éditions Michel Quintin.  Quebec.  Canada.

8)    Rouleau, Raymond, et al.  1990.  Petite flore forestière du Québec.  2nd edition.  Les Publications du Québec.  Quebec.  Canada.

9)    Stokes, Donald et Lillian Stokes.  1997.  Guide des oiseaux de l’est de l’Amérique du Nord.  Broquet.  Quebec.  Canada.

INTERNET SITES

10) Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec.  www.maple-erable.qc.ca  Consulted on March 18, 2003.

11) http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinban/all.html  Consulted on March 21, 2003.

       Rudolph, T.D., Laidly, P.R. 1990. Pinus banksiana Lamb. Jack pine. IN Burns, Russell M., Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics of North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric. Handb. 654. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 280-293. [13391].

12) http://www.treeguide.com/index.asp  Consulted on March 21, 2003.

13) http://www.borealforest.org/lichens/lichen3.htm Consulted on March 21, 2003.