Southern Sugar Maple (Acer floridanum)

Plantae>Magnoliophyta>Magnoliopsida>Sapindales>Aceraceae>Acer floridanum (Chapman) Pax

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Southern Sugar Maple, also known as Florida Maple, is a common medium-sized tree most frequently found in rich bottomland forests.

This species is also known as Acer barbatum Michaux or Acer saccharum ssp. floridanum.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Typical leaf form, which is slightly reminiscent of the European Hedge Maple (Acer campestre).

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Southern Sugar Maple is similar to the northern Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), which occurs mostly in the Mountains in North Carolina, but the leaves of A. barbatum tend to be smaller, more compact, and are white-hairy beneath. Southern Sugar Maple is also generally of smaller stature.

The rarish Chalk Maple (Acer leucoderme) is also similar, but is an even smaller tree with yellow-hairy leaf undersides.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Petioles may be reddish, but often are not.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

The leaf undersides are glaucous (whitish).

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Leaf undersides are usually densely covered with white hairs.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

A young twig, showing opposite petiole bases and buds.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Durham Co., NC 4/27/2002.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

The shallowly lobed leaves on this large tree are most unusual, looking a bit like Chalk Maple, but they are whitish beneath.

Granville Co., NC 4/28/2002.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Yellowish-green flowers appear in early spring.

Chatham Co., NC 3/17/06.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Bark of a young tree. The bark is very pale, like that of Chalk Maple, especially when covered by cerain species of lichen, but is often stained black by mold (see below).

Granville Co., NC 4/28/2002.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

Smoothish bark of a medium-sized tree.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum)

On larger trees, the bark breaks into broad plates.

Granville Co., NC 5/25/09.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum) bark

Bark of a larger tree.

Orange Co., NC 4/13/08.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum) bark

Bark of a small tree. Granville Co., NC 5/20/2012.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum) bark

Pale bark of a very large tree.

Caswell Co., NC 5/30/10.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum) bark

Lower trunks are frequently stained black by mold growing on sap oozing out of sapsucker holes.

Durham Co., NC 4/5/2014.

Southern Sugar Maple (Acer barbatum, Acer floridanum) bark

Durham Co., NC 3/1/08.