Tough, heavy, hard, strong, susceptible of good polish, wears evenly, not durable when exposed.
Furniture, shoe-lasts, piano-actions, wooden type for showbills, pegs, interior finish, flooring, ship-keels, vehicles, fuel, veneers, rails, etc.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
Birdseye, blister, and to a less extent curly and landscape effects pronounced in this species. Saccharum refers to sugar manufactured from the sap. Hard maple is because of hardness of wood. [p043]
SILVER MAPLE, SOFT MAPLE. _Acer saccharinum Linn._ _Acer dasycarpum Ehr._
Silver Maple, Soft Maple (local and common names).
River Maple (Me., N. H., R. I., W. Va., Minn.).
White Maple (Me., Vt., R. I., N. Y., N. J., Pa., W. Va., N. C, S. C., Ga., Fla., Ala., Miss., La., Ky., Mo., Ill., Ind., Kans., Nebr., Minn.).
New Brunswick to Florida, westward intermittently to Dakota and Indian Territory. Best development in lower Ohio River basin.
Forty to ninety feet in height, occasionally higher. Three to five feet in diameter. Fine shape, sometimes suggests elm. Fruit or "maple-key" with long, stiff, more than right-angled wings ripens in early summer. Leaves whitish beneath, turn showing yellow, but little or no red, in autumn.
Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood ivory-white, fine grain, compact structure. Fibres sometimes twisted, waved, or curly.
Light, brittle, easily worked, moderately strong; receives high polish. Not durable when exposed.
Woodenware, turned work, interior decoration, flooring, fuel.
Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot.
Waved, spiral, or curly figure pronounced in this species, very real resemblance to lights and shadows on planed surfaces. Small quantities of sugar present in sap, occasionally utilized. [p044]
RED MAPLE, SWAMP MAPLE. _Acer rubrum Linn._
Red Maple, Swamp Maple (local and common names).
Soft Maple (Vt., Mass., N. Y., Va., Miss., Mo., Kans., Neb., Minn.).
Water Maple (Miss., La., Tex., Ky., Mo.).
New Brunswick and Florida, westward intermittently to Dakota and Texas. Wide range.
Sixty to eighty feet and more in height, two and one-half to four feet in diameter. Red twigs and flowers in early spring.
Heartwood brown tinged with red, sapwood lighter, close-grained, compact structure. Red blossoms, twigs, and stems. Leaves turn scarlet in autumn.