6 Maple Trees In Mississippi (Native Varieties You Must Know)
Maple trees have captivated nature enthusiasts with their awe-inspiring beauty and the stunning array of colors they exhibit during the autumn season.
From the renowned sugar maple to the more commonly found Silver or Canyon maple, these majestic trees contribute to the breathtaking diversity of Mississippi’s forests and landscapes.
In this article, we embark on a captivating journey through the world of frequently encountered maple trees in Mississippi. You will have access to each tree’s high-quality photos and in-depth descriptions, which will provide you with all the information you need for identification or even growing them in your backyard.
Let’s get started.
1. Sugar Maple
- Common Name: Sugar Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer saccharum Marsh.
- Mature Height: 100.0 feet
- Native Range: Newfoundland to Alabama in the East, and Manitoba to Iowa in the West
- Flowers/Cones/Fruit: Yellowish green flowers in dense clusters, double winged reddish brown fruits called samaras
- Uses: Timber for furniture, flooring, and musical instruments; foliage browsed by deer and moose; seeds, buds, and twigs eaten by squirrels; nesting sites for songbirds; maple syrup production; used in hardwood distillation industry
The sugar maple is one of the most common and important maple trees in Mississippi. It is also known as the hard maple or rock maple.
It is a beautiful tree with simple leaves that grow in pairs and turns yellow, orange, or red in the fall. The leaves have smooth or unevenly serrated margins and are heart-shaped or flattened at the base. The tree can reach a height of 100 feet and grows slowly. It has a long life expectancy of more than 100 years.
The Sugar Maple is native to a wide range of habitats, ranging from Newfoundland to Alabama in the east to Manitoba and Iowa in the west. It can withstand shade and moderate dryness, but it is susceptible to fires and does not grow in damp, anaerobic environments. It likes wet, well-drained slopes and ridges, but it can also be found on poorer, limestone soils.
The tree contains yellowish-green blooms in dense clusters as well as reddish-brown fruits known as samaras. These fruits have two wings and grow in bunches on slender stalks. They have broad, parallel, or slightly divergent wings that are about an inch long.
The Sugar Maple has a variety of applications. Its wood is strong, long-lasting, hard, and heavy, making it ideal for furniture, flooring, and musical instruments. Deer and moose frequently browse the tree’s foliage, and squirrels eat its seeds, buds, and twigs. Songbirds use the hollow trunks as nesting locations. Furthermore, the Sugar Maple is significant in maple syrup production, though not as dominant as it formerly was. It’s also utilized in the hardwood distillation process to make wood alcohol, lime acetate, and charcoal.
2. Silver Maple
- Common Name: Silver Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer saccharinum
- Mature Height: 50-80 feet
- Native/Non-Native: Native
- Flowers/Cones: Red to yellow-green flowers; samara fruit
- Uses: Substituted for sugar maple in furniture and flooring; also used in boxes, pallets, crates, and novelties.
Among maple trees in Mississippi, Silver maple is the second most commonly cultivated variety. It is also known by the names soft maple, river maple, silverleaf maple, swamp maple, water maple, and white maple.
It is a deciduous tree with simple, opposite leaves ranging in size from 6.0 to 8.0 inches. The upper side of the leaves is pale green, and the undersurface is silvery. They feature five lobes with secondary lobes and are round. The Silver Maple’s twigs are slender and reddish-brown. The tree produces small, reddish-brown samaras with double, diverging wings.
Silver Maple is native to northeastern Canada, although it can also be found as far south as Florida and as far west as Oklahoma and Arkansas.
It prefers lush, damp bottomland habitats and grows on stream banks, river levees, and floodplains. It can, however, flourish as an ornamental plant in dry soils. The tree grows quickly and can reach a mature height of 80.0 feet. It has a life expectancy of less than 50 years.
Small mammals, particularly squirrels and chipmunks, as well as birds such as evening grosbeaks, finches, and wild turkeys, consume Silver Maple seeds. In southeastern Missouri, the tree also supplies vital food for nesting wood ducks.
When their cached food is spent, squirrels rely on the tree’s early buds. White-tailed deer and rabbits feed on the Silver Maple’s foliage.
Silver Maple wood is used to create furniture, boxes, crates, food containers, paneling, and core stock. It is medium-hard, brittle, and fine-grained. The sap from this tree can also be utilized to manufacture maple syrup. The bark of the Silver Maple’s juvenile stems is similar to that of the green ash tree.
The Silver Maple is valued in landscaping for its quick growth and ability to endure a wide range of soil pH and texture. However, its popularity as an ornamental tree has diminished due to twig shedding, prolific sprouting, and damage from ice, snow, and wind.
3. Boxelder Maple
- Common Name: Boxelder Ashleaf Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer negundo L.
- Mature Height: 60.0 feet
- Native Range: North America
- Flowers/Cones/Fruit: Yellow-green flowers; reddish brown double samara fruit
- Uses: Shade tree, attractive foliage
The Boxelder Ashleaf Maple, scientifically known as Acer negundo L., is a deciduous tree that may reach a height of 60.0 feet when fully grown. It is indigenous to North America and is often seen there.
The Boxelder Ashleaf Maple’s leaves are pinnately complex, opposite, and deciduous. They range in size from 6.0 to 15.0 inches in length, with 3-7 leaflets averaging 2.0 to 4.0 inches in length and 1.5 to 2.5 inches in width.
The leaves are serrated on the margins and have a long-tapered, lanceolate apex with an ovate-lanceolate or oval shape. The leaves are bright green on top and paler on the bottom, with a pubescent surface above and pubescent veins below.
Boxelder Ashleaf Maple twigs are strong and can range in color from green to purplish green, darkening as they age. The twigs have a smooth, shiny surface and, on occasion, a bloom.
The buds are ovoid, 0.13-inch in length, and bluish-white in hue. Buds are tomentose as well, and leaf scars are V-shaped and raised, with 3-5 bundle scars.
Boxelder Ashleaf Maple blooms are tiny, yellow-green, and apetalous. They are dioecious, which means they have male and female blooms. The flowers are about 0.25 inches long and grow on slender, glabrous pedicels. The male flowers are fascicled, while the female flowers are in slender drooping racemes.
The bark of the Boxelder Ashleaf Maple is gray-brown and thin, with tiny fissures. The bark features narrow rounded reticulate ridges as well. It normally has a single stem in terms of morphological characteristics.
The tree grows quickly, reaching a maximum height of 35.0 feet after 20 years. It does, however, have a short lifespan, usually lasting less than 50 years. The Boxelder Ashleaf Maple tolerates shade well and is drought resistant. It rarely sustains damage from fire and cannot grow in anaerobic conditions.
4. Florida Maple
- Common Name: Florida Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer barbatum Michx.
- Mature Height: 60.0 feet
- Native Range: Southeastern Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Eastern Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma
- Flowers/Cones/Fruit: Samara (double, winged, U-shaped, red to reddish-brown), Dioecious or polygamous yellow-green flowers
- Uses: Used for pulpwood, saw timber, veneer stock, furniture, flooring, and paneling; limited source of maple syrup
The Florida Maple, also known as the southern sugar maple, hammock maple, or sugar maple, is a 60-foot-tall tree.
It has simple, alternating, deciduous leaves with lobed margins and an orbicular form. The leaves are lustrous above and slightly pubescent below, and they are green on top and lighter below. The twigs of the Florida Maple are slender and reddish-brown, with sharp-pointed brown buds.
The tree produces samaras, which are U-shaped and crimson to reddish-brown. The Florida Maple also bears dioecious or polygamous yellow-green blooms. The tree’s bark is pale gray with irregular thick curling ridges that eventually become plated.
The Florida Maple has a sporadic distribution that extends from southeastern Virginia through the Florida Panhandle and west into Texas. It loves well-drained, fertile soils on stream terraces, coves, bluffs, and ridgetops. The tree is shade tolerant and grows at a modest rate. It lives for more than 50 years and does not resprout or coppice.
While the Florida Maple is not particularly appealing as wildlife browse, it is used for a variety of wood purposes. It is not usually managed commercially, but it is utilized for pulpwood, saw timber, veneer stock, furniture, flooring, and paneling. It can also be tapped to create maple syrup in small quantities.
The tree is frequently employed as an ornamental or shade tree in urban forestry. The Florida Maple differs from the northern sugar maple in that it has smaller leaves with shorter, acute lobes, smaller samaras, and whitish bark.
5. Red Maple
- Common Name: Red Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer rubrum
- Mature Height: Can grow up to 70 feet tall
- Native Range: Found from Vermont south to Florida; west to eastern Texas; north to Michigan and southern Ontario
- Flowers/Cones/Fruit: Produces small red flowers in early spring, followed by winged fruits called samaras
- Uses: Wildlife habitat, used locally for boxes, rough construction, and occasionally for cheap furniture and woodenware.
When fully mature, the Red Maple, scientifically called Acer rubrum, can reach heights of up to 70 feet. Its native range extends from Vermont in the north to Florida in the south. It is also found from east Texas to Michigan and southern Ontario in the east.
This tree produces tiny red blooms in the early spring, and then it bears samaras, which are winged fruits. In riparian areas, the Red Maple provides critical habitat for a variety of wildlife species. It also acts as a secondary browse for white-tailed deer in the fall and offers food for birds and squirrels.
Because of its light, soft, and low-strength wood, the Red Maple is not often used for timber, but it does have some applications. It is used locally to make boxes, rough buildings, and occasionally cheap furniture and woodenware. This tree’s branches were once used to manufacture charcoal for ceremonial painting.
The Red Maple has various advantages in landscaping, including quick growth and great tolerance to fluctuations in soil, shade, and site conditions. However, it has several downsides, including brittle limbs that snap readily and a trunk that is subject to rot and boxelder pest infestation. This tree also has a short lifespan and an extended leaf and seed fall.
There are several fascinating facts about the Red Maple. Some people refer to this tree’s sap as “mountain molasses,” which is syrup. Native Americans ate the cambium or inner bark, and it was also boiled down to make syrup and candy. A drink produced from the inner bark was also used to induce vomiting.
6. Drummond’s Red Maple
- Common Name: Drummond’s Red Maple
- Scientific Name: Acer rubrum L. var. drummondii (Hook. & Arn. ex Nutt.) Sarg.
- Mature Height: 69.0’ – 90.0’
- Native Range: Southeastern U.S.
- Flowers/Cones/Fruit: Bright scarlet, bell-shaped flowers; double samara fruit
- Uses: Wildlife food, timber for paper
One of the tallest maple trees in Mississippi, the Drummond’s Red Maple (Acer rubrum L. var. drummondii (Hook. & Arn. ex Nutt.) Sarg.) is a deciduous tree that can reach heights of 69.0′ – 90.0′. It is native to the southeastern United States and is commonly found in the Mississippi Valley drainage basin’s deep swampy areas.
Drummond’s Red Maple leaves are simple, opposite, and deciduous. They have coarsely and unevenly serrated borders and are round with five lobes. The leaves are light green on top and white on the bottom, with scattered hairs on the upper surface and a dense tomentum on the bottom.
The tree has polygamo-dioecious flowers that are brilliant scarlet and bell-shaped. The blooms are tiny, measuring around 0.04″ in length, and are clustered in dense, stalked axillary clusters. The tree’s fruit is a double samara, which means it has two wings and measures approximately 1.25″ – 2.5″ long and 0.5″ – 0.75″ wide.
Drummond’s Red Maple has numerous applications in animals and ecosystems. Song and game birds eat its seeds, and deer find it to be the ideal feed. Small mammals consume its bark, browse, and buds, while squirrels rely on it for sustenance. Furthermore, Drummond’s Red Maple timber is considered soft maple and can be used to make paper.
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Native Maple Trees In Mississippi – Sources
The Regional Gardening team makes sure that the information in our articles is accurate by only using sources that are known to be trustworthy. Some of these sources are peer-reviewed journals from government agencies, well-known universities, and scientific research organizations.
- Native Trees For Mississippi Landscapes, Mississippi State University Extension.
- Mississippi Trees, Publications Of Mississippi Forestry Commission.
- Department Of Plant & Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University Extension.
- Tree Care, Mississippi Urban Forest Council.
