Our shade tree of the week is the southern sugar maple (
Acer barbatum), widely reported to be an
"excellent" or
"wonderful" shade tree. This is a medium sized tree; it grows large enough to shade a big area, but not so big that it becomes a hazard. And it delivers another service: after laboring all summer to provide us with relief from the sun, we are rewarded in the fall with showy, yellow foliage.
Southern sugar maples do well in the Centenary Arboretum. There are four individuals in the collection and they are all healthy, mature specimens. The pictures below are of an individual tree planted near the Student Union Building. The specimen was collected in 1994, from
Walter Jacobs Nature Park, and subsequently planted in January 1996, making this tree well over 20 years old.
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| This individual southern sugar maple (Acer barbatum) is planted along the sidewalk going towards the Student Union Building. The grass under the tree is nicely shaded while the concrete sidewalk is brightly lit-up by the noon-day sun. The photo above shows the shadow of the tree creeping onto the sidewalk, and hopefully in the next several years the sidewalk will receive more coverage. |
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| Although the concrete sidewalk is currently exposed to full noon-day sun, the gravel path is shaded by the Acer barbatum. |
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| We have full-shade under the tree and full-sun on the other side. |
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| Leaves of Acer barbatum are characteristically lobed. |
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| Leaves are dark green in the summer, and we can expect them to turn yellow in the fall. |
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| Looking up, Acer barbatum blocks the sun. |
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| Trunk of mature tree, more than two decades old. |
You can find more pictures of the arboretum's southern sugar maples
here.
For more information about this species consult the following:
Stephen F. Austin State University
NC State University
US Forest Service
