Acer rubrum

General

Red maple is one of the most successful and abundant trees in the Northeastern United States. Red maple is a valuable riparian buffer plant due to its tolerance of wetter soils, but is also found growing on a wide variety of sites: sunny or shady, dry or moist. Because of its abundance and wide distribution, the early-produced pollen of red maple may be important to bees and other pollen-dependent insects. The seeds, buds and flowers are eaten by various wildlife species. Squirrels and chipmunks store the seeds, and white-tailed deer, rabbits and moose use it for browse. Cavities in red maples in river floodplain communities are often well suited for cavity-nesting species, like the wood duck and others. Individual plants can be male, female or bisexual. And within bisexual plants individual branches may exhibit flowers that are entirely male, female or bisexual. The early spring flowers are pink to dark red. Overall, a fast-growing species that transplants successfully while young.