It prefers moist upland soils, inhabits parts of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Northeastern USA with a range from Maine to as far south as Georgia and as far west as Minnesota.
The Striped Maple is a valuable tree to wildlife. As my last entry, I will write an ecosystem that involves the Striped Maple to better appreciate how a tree provides life to forest dwellers.
The bark of the tree is not only unique to identify this tree but, in the winter months, it is used as a food source by wildlife such as deer, moose and beavers. Some people call the tree Moosewood because of the dietary preference by the Moose.
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Judging by the diameter of the tree it is about ten years old. This is the bark of a Striped Maple. It is thin and smooth with vertical green and white stripes. These stripes lend the name as Snakewood.
The green stripes on young bark of striped maple allow it to photosynthesize better in the shade, even before the leaves appear in spring.
Chlorophyll. All trees have some degree of chlorophyll in their bark, throughout the tree, not just the trunk of the tree.
The leaf of the Stripped Maple is somewhat simple to realize. It is a broadleaf, hairless, 13-18cm (5-7”) in length and like other maples it has lobes, but, only three. They are at the end of the leaf opposite the stem. Each lobe is pointy, triangular and has it's own vein where secondary veins branch off the main. To touch the leaf it is somewhat papery, especially in the autumn/fall when it turns yellow. The margins of the leaves are finely toothed.
It is important to note the finely toothed characteristic of the leaf because the Mountain Maple has the same shape leaf, but, with very coarse toothed edges on the leaf. The leaf is sometimes said to be shaped the same as the foot of a goose and they are some times called the Goose Foot Maple.
This poor tree has more names than any other, but, it is still the same wonderful tree where wildlife gather.
In late spring or early summer, the flowers will bloom to develop into similar seed pods as the Sugar Maple, the familiar helicopter, two-lobed shape by late summer or early autumn/fall. They may be reddish in color at first but progress to a brown tone at maturity.
The Striped Maple is fine-grained and porous. It has limited uses. There are some records of Native Americans using for medicinal purposes. It is a great tree to support the ecosystem within the forest and should be left there.
