Silver Maple vs Sugar Maple
Silver and sugar maple are easy to tell apart by leaf, buds, and growth habit. There only slight overlap in habitat: silver maple usually grows closer to water and sugar maple on well-drained sites.
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) | Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) |
A maple with deeply-lobed leaves, named for the silvery color of the backside of its leaves. Native to North America; common in floodplains and along rivers. | A shade-tolerant deciduous tree of the northeast, often associated with climax communities on rich, mesic sites. |
 Leaves deeply-cut, with irregularly serrated margins. Photo © Mark Apgar, CC BY 4.0. |  Lobes shallower. Leaves pointed at lobe tips, but leaf margins smooth between points, often forming U-shaped curves. Photo © Yann Kemper, Public Domain. |
 Leaves silvery-white on underside. Photo © Mark Apgar, CC BY 4.0. |  Leaves the same color or only slightly lighter on underside. Photo © Nate Martineau, CC BY 4.0. |
 Large, reddish buds round to blunt-tipped; 4 or fewer pairs of bud scales visible. Side buds often nearly as large as terminal buds. Photo © randomrover, CC BY 4.0. |  Much smaller terminal buds sharply pointed; 4-8 pairs of bud scales visible. Side buds much smaller than terminal buds and angle in the direction of the twig. Photo © Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0. |
 Large samaras have elongated seeds that meet at a right angle at the base. Photo © askalotl, Public Domain. |  Smaller samaras have more spherical seeds, fused more horizontally at the base. Photo © Rob Foster, CC BY 4.0. |
 In the wild, trees usually have multi-trunk growth habit, with trunks angled. Photo © Sarah Johnson, CC BY 4.0. |  Usually has single-trunk growth habit, with straight trunk branching only higher up. Photo © Charlie Hohn, CC BY 4.0. |
 Fall color yellow to brownish, but many leaves drop when still green. Photo © Laura Gaudette, CC BY 4.0. |  Fall color variable, but usually includes vibrant reds and oranges in addition to yellow. Leaves usually retained on tree until they change color. Photo © Tanja Miloti?, Public Domain. |
References & External Resources
These short lists show only links helpful for ID. For a complete list of references and resources also covering other aspects of ecology, visit the links section of the full article on each plant, which is the first entry here.
