Sugar Maple

I drew the maple at the peak of its autumn colour, as a single leaf with the lobes spread outward like an open hand. One leaf is enough, because in October the whole argument of the tree is made by a leaf. In this sugar maple print the green has gone, and the colour that lay hidden all summer shows: yellow, orange and a warm orange-red. It is a brief state. The plate holds it still.

In shortThe sugar maple, Acer saccharum, is a large forest tree of eastern North America, known for its autumn colour and for the sap that becomes maple syrup. Its leaf has five lobes. The plate shows one leaf at peak colour.

Key Facts

Why do sugar maple leaves turn orange and red?

Sugar maple leaves change colour because chlorophyll, the green pigment, breaks down as autumn nights lengthen. The yellows and oranges were in the leaf all summer, as carotenoids, and the chlorophyll simply hid them. The reds are different. Anthocyanins are made fresh in autumn, from sugars that stay trapped in the leaf, in bright light.

Sugar maple leaves are usually described as orange-red. The brightest reds follow warm, sunny days and cool nights that stay above freezing. A severe summer drought or a warm autumn can dull the colour. That is why the same tree looks different from one October to the next. The maple seasonal changes guide follows the whole year of the tree.

How do you recognise a sugar maple leaf?

A sugar maple leaf is simple, with five lobes, and measures 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) long. It is dark green in summer and grows in opposite pairs along the twig. The veins run outward from one point at the base into each lobe, so the whole leaf spreads like a hand.

The genus Acer holds about 130 species across Asia, Europe and North America, and their leaves vary a great deal. The Japanese maple, Acer palmatum, is a different species. It has been cultivated in Japan for at least 1,200 years, and its leaves are usually more deeply divided than those of the sugar maple. The sugar maple is a larger tree of North American forests, and the shape most people picture on a flag or a syrup bottle.

How is maple syrup made from a sugar maple?

Maple syrup is made by collecting sugar maple sap in early spring and boiling off water until the sugar concentrates. The sap is only about 2.5 percent sugar, so it takes about 129 litres (34 gallons) of sap to make 3.8 litres (1 gallon) of syrup. The boiling is the long part of the work.

Making syrup from maple sap is a practice of the northeastern forests, and European settlers learned it from the Indigenous peoples who were there before them. The tree is tapped in late winter and early spring, when cold nights and mild days push the sap through the wood. The studio’s guide to maple tree uses covers syrup, timber and the maple’s place in art.

Where does the sugar maple grow, and how long does it live?

The sugar maple grows in the cool, moist forests of eastern North America. Its range runs from southeastern Manitoba through Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces, and south through New England and the Appalachians. It is not a native of the Alps or of Europe, although it is hardy enough to be planted as an ornamental in USDA zones 4 to 8.

Forest trees reach 27 to 37 m, and mature trees can live for 300 to 400 years. A tree seldom flowers before about 22 years of age. Its fruit is a double samara, two winged seeds joined at the base, with wings 20 to 27 mm long. The wind can carry them at least 100 m. Sugar maple seedlings tolerate deep shade, which is how the species holds the floor of a mature forest.

What is sugar maple wood used for?

Sugar maple is among the most important hardwoods of North America. The wood is dense and hard, and it is used for furniture, flooring and musical instruments, including violin backs and guitar parts. Figured grain such as bird’s-eye is especially valued.

The leaf has also become an emblem, and the tree draws visitors every autumn. In Japan, people travel in November to see maples turn, much as they travel for cherry blossom in spring. The essay on what maple leaves mean covers the symbolism and the season.

Drawing the sugar maple leaf

The plate shows a single leaf: five lobes, the veins running out through each one, and colour that shifts between yellow, orange and orange-red. A tree carries thousands of leaves, and no two turn at quite the same pace. One leaf lets the colour be read closely, and the shape of the lobes stays clear against the soft beige ground.

A photograph of an autumn leaf often loses the veins in glare, or turns the gradation of colour into a single flat orange. The hand-drawn digital illustration keeps the veins readable and lets one colour pass into the next across the blade, much as it does on the living leaf in October.

Where does a sugar maple print work on a wall?

A single leaf in warm colour suits a living room, a bedroom, a study or a hallway, especially where cream, beige or natural wood echoes the tones of the leaf. A thin black frame sharpens the colour. A warm wood frame makes it feel like the leaf itself. In the photograph below, a framed print of a colourful maple leaf hangs on the wall of a living room with a beige sofa and a small round coffee table.

The studio places the plate in the Alpine Forager collection, a set for lodges and mountain interiors. The sugar maple itself is a tree of eastern North America, not of the Alps.

Fine-art print →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a sugar maple the same as a Japanese maple?

No. They are separate species. The sugar maple, Acer saccharum, is a large forest tree of eastern North America and the main source of maple syrup. The Japanese maple, Acer palmatum, is usually a smaller garden tree with more deeply divided leaves, cultivated in Japan for at least 1,200 years.

Why are some sugar maple leaves yellow and others red?

Yellow and orange come from carotenoids, which are in the leaf all year and show once the green fades. Red comes from anthocyanins, which the leaf makes in autumn from trapped sugars in bright light. Weather decides how much red a tree makes in a given year.

How old does a sugar maple get?

Mature sugar maples can reach 300 to 400 years. They grow slowly, and a tree seldom flowers before about 22 years of age. Height growth usually stops at about 140 to 150 years.

Does the sugar maple grow wild in Europe or the Alps?

No. It is native only to eastern North America. In Europe it is planted as an ornamental tree but is not part of the wild flora. Maples native to the Alps include the sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus.

How is this print made, and how does it reach me?

There are two formats. The digital download is a high-resolution file that you print yourself, at home or at a print shop; no physical item is shipped. The fine-art print is printed to order on archival paper or canvas, framed or unframed, in sizes from small prints to over 150 cm (60 inches), and delivered to your door.