A fast-growing North American maple of river bottoms, named for the silvery undersides of its deeply lobed leaves.
Where it grows
Silver maple is the dominant maple of floodplain forests across the eastern United States and adjacent Canada, from New Brunswick to Florida and west to South Dakota. It tolerates seasonal flooding and waterlogged soils that would kill most other large hardwoods.
How to recognise it
The leaves are deeply cut, with five sharply pointed lobes and silvery-white undersides that flash in the breeze. The wood is brittle, prone to splitting at narrow branch unions, and the bark on mature trees flakes in long, peeling strips. Spring flowers are reddish and open before any other maple.
Uses
Silver maple grows extraordinarily fast — over a metre a year in good conditions — which made it a popular shade tree for new suburbs in the early 20th century. The brittle wood, surface roots, and frequent storm damage have since cooled enthusiasm. The pale wood is used for pulp, pallets, and inexpensive furniture.
Ecology
Silver maple stabilises riverbanks, feeds wood ducks on its early seed crop, and provides cavities for raccoons, owls, and squirrels in its frequently hollowing trunks.