A little seed. A new beginning.
Seeds In A Cup®A LITTLE SEED. A NEW BEGINNING.

GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL

Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum

Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.

THE PLANT NOTEBOOK

Sugar Maple care, from seed onward.

Botanical name
Acer saccharum
Common names
Rock Maple, Hard Maple
Family
Sapindaceae
Genus
Acer
Species
A. saccharum
01

Start growing

Needs cool winters and moist soil. Does not like heat or compacted urban soil.

02

Growing with your kit

The Seeds In A Cup® kit shows how the 'paired' maple seeds use their wings to spin like helicopters.

03

Propagation

By seed (requires long cold period).

04

Seasonal growth & harvest

Primary source of maple syrup. Slow-growing and long-lived (up to 400 years).

05

Growing conditions

Cool, moist upland forests with rich soil.

06

Weather & tolerances

High shade tolerance; very low salt and heat tolerance.

07

Pests & plant health

Asian longhorned beetle and Verticillium wilt.

08

Plant safety

Safe; sap is the basis of a global food industry.

09

Botanical features

A large deciduous tree with five-lobed leaves (the iconic Canadian leaf shape). Famous for brilliant multicolored fall foliage.

10

Varieties

‘Legacy’, ‘Green Mountain’.

11

Garden & everyday uses

Maple syrup/sugar production. wood used for basketball courts and bowling alleys due to its hardness

12

Native range & distribution

Northeastern North America.

13

Conservation

Threatened by climate change in the southern parts of its range.

14

Name origins

Latin ‘saccharum’ meaning sugar, referring to the high sugar content of its sap.

15

History

Native Americans first taught European settlers how to 'sugar off' the sap in early spring.

Grow sugar maple in a cup.