Common Name: Sugar Maple

Scientific Name: Acer saccharum

Family: Soapberry

Fun Facts

• sugar maples are commonly browsed by white-tailed deer and snowshoe hare

• squirrels feed on the seeds, buds, twigs and leaves

• early settlers noticed how the Native Americans processed the sap into sugar and used it for bartering

• Native Americans used the inner bark to make tea and to treat coughs and diarrehea

• other historic uses included  making soap from its ashes, using the bark as a dye, drinking the ap as a spring tonic and taking the syrup for liver and kidney problems

• during the 2001 baseball season, Barry Bonds switched from the raditional ash wood baseball bat to one made of maple and hit 73 home runs-a new record!!