Red maple is also known by a number of other common names in different areas of the US, including soft maple, white maple, swamp maple, and water maple. The species has long been valued as an ornamental because of its easy of establishment, rapid growth, and fall foliage colors. Red maples are tapped to produce maple syrup, but the sap typically has only about half the sugar content of sugar maple sap. The wood has a fine grain and is used in furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and for many other wood products, but because of its susceptibility to defects, the timber is often low in quality. The wood is also used for fuel and pulpwood.

· USDA Plant Guide for Red Maple: PDF File

· Species Description: Silvics of North American Hardwoods

· Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet for Red Maple

· University of Connecticut Plant Database

Description:
Red maple typically has a narrow compact crown, and may be single stemmed, or grow in clumps of stems, due to its tendency to stump sprout. The tree often grows to heights of 60 feet or more and has thin gray bark while young, becoming furrowed into long narrow scaly ridges as the tree ages.
Leaves are deciduous, 2.5 to 4 inches long and about as wide, with 3 shallow short pointed lobes, sometimes with two smaller lobes two smaller lobes near the leaf base. Leaves are dull green and smooth on the upper surface; the lower surface is lighter green or silvery.

Flowers are pinkto dark red and about 3 mm long. Flowering occurs in early spring.
Fruits are winged samaras about one inch long, and are clustered on long stalks.
The trees common name is in reference to the red twigs, buds, flowers, and fall foliage.

Distribution:
Red maple is one of the most widely distributed trees in North America, extending from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, west to Minnesota, south to Missouri, eastern Oklahoma and southern Texas and east to southern Florida. Its distribution has extended beyond its historic natural range as a result of planting and naturalization.
Habitat:
Red maple is one of the most abundant and successful species found in the Eastern Deciduous Forest. It is most abundant in "bottom lands" along streams and rivers and is tolerant of wet soils and flooding. Even though it grows well in these wet areas, it is a "supergeneralist", growing well on a wide range of sites and under a range of conditions. It can grow on sites which are sunny or shady, and in many types of soils from dry to wet and high to low nutrient contents.

Uses:
The "sap wood" of the red maple produces white fine-grained lumber which is used for many of the same products as sugar maple. The lumber is commonly used in products as diverse as furniture and flooring, to pallets and crating. Red maple trees are susceptible to defects, which sometimes results in low quality lumber.
The trees are sometimes tapped for their sap, which is boiled into maple syrup. However, red maple sap generally has a sugar content which is much lower than that of the sugar maple.
Red maple has long been a popular ornamental tree because of its ease of establishment, rapid growth and brilliant fall foliage.

USDA, NRCS. 2001. Plant Guide; Red Maple. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.