soft versus hard maple

[victorytea]

A friend asked me today what is the easiest way to tell whether a maple is "soft" maple or "hard" maple. I couldn't answer his question but told him I would find out. I would appreciate it if someone would take the time to explain the difference to me. Paul

 

[Stumper]

Hard maple = sugar maple (Acer saccharum)identified by leaves, twigs, bark, buds, growth pattern etc.(Try an internet search for pictures)

My experience has been that most people mean Silver maple(Acer saccharinum) when they say soft maple. It is the weakest of the Maples other than Boxelder (Acer Negundo).

The soft and hard references are about the wood/lumber and the relative density varies from species to species. Sugar maple and Silver are at opposite ends of the spectrum (in Maples that typically are harvested for lumber-My understanding is that Vine maple can be quite dense but it isn't milled much).:angel:

 

[glens]

By "easiest" I'll assume "easiest in the summer time" is meant, since leaf identification is pretty easy.

Ash-leafed maple (boxelder) isn't obviously maple unless you see the seeds on it, but it's a "soft" maple.&nbsp; Of the trees that are "obviously" maple (have "maple" leaves), the red and silver maples are "soft".&nbsp; The silver maple has <i>very</i> deeply notched leaves, so that's the "easy" way to identify it, but both it and the red maple have very light to almost white leaf undersides, and the red maple has red leaf stems.

Let's go with the soft maples have the very light colored leaf undersides as the easiest way to tell (during the summer) that they're "soft".

Glen

 

[victorytea]

Thanks to both of you guys. I now feel confiident in my identification. Great info! Thanks Again- Paul

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I've red that in some locales red maple, acer rubrum, is called both a hard and soft maple. Red maple straddles the line in density I think.

Do a google search on "hard maple" and "soft maple" and you'll learn more than enough in less than fifteen minutes.

Tom

 

[John Stewart]

Up here Sugar is hard and Red is soft!
John

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Tom Dunlap
I've red that in some locales red maple, acer rubrum, is called both a hard and soft maple. Red maple straddles the line in density I think.

It does, which shows that hard/soft is a flase dichotomy. Common names are confusing, aren't they?

 

[glens]

At Tom's suggestion I googled for "hard maple".&nbsp; Google's "I'm feeling lucky" returns an hardwood.org <a href="http://www.hardwood.org/species_guide/display_species.asp?species=hardmaple">page</a>.&nbsp; Between that page and the "Soft Maple" link it contains, the distinctions previously mentioned in this thread seem to be correct.

I've been known to dwell on minute details, so I can appreciate this new tack, but when most people that even understand there's a difference between "hard" and "soft" maple talk about the difference, it's not strictly density they have in mind.&nbsp; Rather the intended use for the wood.

I guess for me to quibble <i>against</i> the small details proves I'm not entirely opposed to situation ethics.&nbsp; :<tt>)</tt>

Something I find interesting is in my copy of <a href="http://www.outdoorshub.com/Trees_of_the_Eastern_and_Central_United_States_and_Canada_0486203956.html">Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada</a> by William H. Harlow, the author states<blockquote>"Michaux wrote that hard maple wood can be separated from that of soft maple by a drop of any ferric salt solution on the end grain.&nbsp; Hard maple turns a greenish color, whereas soft maple shows a bright blue.&nbsp; On some 50 samples of each, the author finds that all the hard maple turn greenish, all the soft maple <i>sapwood</i> become blue, and about one-half of the heartwood samples tested are also dark blue, the remainder dark greenish blue.&nbsp; The test appears to be permanent, since after 6 months the blocks can still be readily separated by color."</blockquote>Of course that was about 50 years ago; I wonder if the difference can still be noted on his samples...

Glen