Photo: Ayotte, Gilles, 1948- — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Survives zone 3 through 9
Spring sap tapped for syrup, sweeter than the birches but less sweet than sugar maple.
- Hardiness
- Zone 3 to 9
- Habit
- Tree
- Edible part
- Sap
- Ripens
- Late winter (sap run)
- Mature size
- Large tree — NOT containerable
- Light
- Full sun to partial
- Soil pH
- 6.0–7.0
- Environment
- Temperate
- Status
- Both wild and cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 10+ yrs (sap)
- Pollination
- Monoecious/self-fertile
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Tolerates average soil fertility and rarely needs supplemental feeding beyond working compost or aged manure into the planting site; if growth lags, apply a balanced fertilizer as buds break in spring.
How it spreads. Does not sucker or spread vegetatively, but seeds prolifically via winged samaras, producing volunteer seedlings around mature trees that often need weeding out.
Growing tips. Prone to manganese chlorosis in alkaline soils and to verticillium wilt; keep mulch away from the trunk and avoid piling soil against the base, since girdling roots and trunk/root damage are common causes of crown dieback.