I made the trek back out to the silver maple grove this past Tuesday in an attempt to find and identify a tree to observe through the spring season. I ended up choosing a silver maple tree (as was the only fitting choice considering the name of this blog…) which is growing towards the edge of my site. I was able to identify this tree and distinguish it from the other local maple trees by observing its:
- Bark!
- Silver maple bark is grey and noticeably thin and easy to break off. On mature trees like this one, the bark is also relatively flaky.
- Buds!
- The buds on a silver maple can range from red to purple and are 1/8 to 1/4 inch in length. The buds also tend to form in clumps
- Growing Location!
- Silver maples, unlike red, Norway, or sugar maples, tend to grow on stream or river banks. This is perhaps the most obvious way to distinguish my tree from any lookalikes, as it is growing on the banks of the Winooski river.
I’ll be sure to revisit this tree as the spring progresses and note any changes that I observe!