South Dakota Maples—Sugar, Silver, & a Trickster

Sugar Maple in Sica Hollow, northeasternmost South Dakota.

For April's tree-following report I'm sticking with my strategy of following (learning about) South Dakota trees—helpful in preparing our guide to trees and shrubs of the state. This month I chose maples, of which there are three.

South Dakota is not known for its trees. It's largely a prairie state, though much of what was prairie is now fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, hay, sunflowers and more. Most people who visit (i.e., tourists) head straight for the Black Hills in the far west, which are mostly covered in coniferous forest (that's why they look black).

But far eastern South Dakota also is forested. It's part of the immense Eastern Deciduous Forest (EDF) ecoregion, which covers the eastern third of the United States and extends into southeast Canada and northeast Mexico.

Globally, the North American EDF is one of the largest parts of the Temperate Broadleaf Forest Biome (yellow green). Source.

Authorities frequently claim that the EDF reaches its western limit in Minnesota, but they're wrong. It continues into South Dakota where it's best developed in the southeast and northeast corners of the state.

South Dakota land cover. Dark green units in the southeast and northeast are large stands of Eastern Deciduous Forest (modified from Johnson & Knight 2022).

EDF thrives where summers are warm and moist and winters are cold, as is the case in easternmost South Dakota (summers are increasingly dry going west). As the name indicates, the dominant trees lose their leaves each winter. These include oak, elm, basswood (linden), hackberry, and maples.

Eastern Deciduous Forest in northeast South Dakota, with a thick understory of young Sugar Maples hoping to reach the sky.

Of the three maple species in South Dakota, two are native to the far east—Sugar Maple and Silver Maple. However Silver Maple is widely planted, and escapees are occasionally found in the wild as far west as the Black Hills. The botanists who described and named these maples long ago chose very similar scientific names: Acer saccharum and A. saccharinum (thanks, guys, I hope I can keep them straight!). Both mean sugary, referring to the sap (Saccharum is the genus name for sugarcane). However the Sugar Maple's sap is far sweeter (Plant Finder, Missouri Botanical Garden).

These two maples are similar in appearance, enough so that some effort is needed to tell them apart. Both have what we think of as typical maple leaves—palmately lobed, like the fingers of a hand. Fortunately the details differ, which is more easily shown with photos than explained with words. But we intend to do both.

Leaves of Sugar Maple are more shallowly lobed with broader sinuses (gaps) between the main lobes. The sinuses usually are less than half the overall leaf length and are rounded at the bottom.

Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum (Minnesota Wildflowers Information).

Leaves of Silver Maple are more deeply lobed, and with narrower sinuses between the main lobes. The sinuses usually are at least half the length of the leaf and are more pointed at the bottom.

Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum (MWI).

Both trees develop furrowed ridged bark with maturity, but that of the Silver Maple is more flaky, enough to make it look shaggy ... or so they say. Do you have tips for telling these two maples apart? If so, please leave a Comment below.

Sugar Maple, Acer saccharum (MWI).

Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum (MWI)—a bit shaggy?

Now for those readers about fall off their chairs with curiosity ... there is indeed a third maple in South Dakota. But it's a trickster.

Yes, this IS a maple!

It's a maple with lobes so deep that they're leaflets.

This is Acer negundo, the Boxelder—also known as Ashleaf Maple (ash has similar leaves), Manitoba Maple, Érable à feuilles composées, and Poison Ivy Tree (not poisonous but leaflets are similar in shape). Instead of palmately lobed leaves typical of maples, it has pinnately compound ones—divided into paired leaflets with one more at the tip.

In contrast with Sugar Maple and Silver Maple, which are uncommon in South Dakota and limited to the far east, Boxelder is common and widespread across the state, and apparently not terribly picky about habitat. Some call it a weed.

The Boxelder I followed in 2018—a bit of wildscaping for this warehouse.

This is my contribution to the monthly gathering of tree-followers kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. More news here.

Sources cited

Johnson, W. Carter, and Knight, Dennis H. 2022. Ecology of Dakota Landscapes; past, present, and future. Yale University Press; Biodiversity Institute, U. Wyoming. ISBN 978-0-300-25381-8.

Treefollowing: Wordless Wednesday (nearly)

Flash the maple is thick with dried samaras.

Spike the hawthorn still sports a bit of red and green.

~🍂~

Though the beech is golden

I cannot stand beside it

mute, but must say

"It is golden," while the leaves

stir and fall with a sound

that is not a name.

It is in the silence

that my hope is, and my aim.

...

The Silence by Wendell Berry

 

This is my brief contribution to November's gathering of Treefollowers. Consider joining us—as you can see, it doesn't have to be a lot of work. Photos would have been enough, but like Berry, I "must say".

Tree Following & other news from the yard

I asked my young trees, "What does the future hold?" But all I heard was wind in the leaves.

From a distance, it looked like Flash the maple and Spike the hawthorn hadn't changed much in the two weeks I was gone. However, up close I could see the growing season is winding down. Maple leaves are ragged and dry, and hawthorn leaves are beginning to turn red and yellow. Snow and cold are in the forecast this week, but by next Sunday we're to be back to 60º F. I bet the hawthorn will keep some green leaves, and photosynthesize for awhile longer.

Flash, the Hot Wings Tartarian Maple, has been red for months.

Spike, the Winter King Hawthorn, gave life another try this year. Best wishes!

Hawthorn leaves are finally starting to turn.

Other News

Laramie had hard frosts while I was gone, and my native wildflower beds are mostly brown. But there are flashes of color here and there.

Bachelor's button and an unknown-to-me orange-rayed member of the daisy family are non-native annuals common in our native wildflower mixes. They bloom the first year after planting, and a few sometimes grow from seed after that, but not for long.

This little white-flowered member of the mustard family is new to me. It started blooming in the last few weeks. I also saw it in a rocky drainage on the prairie east of town a few days ago. I hope it survives long enough to produce fruit, which are required for identifying many mustards with confidence. Or do you know it?

Flowers are about 5 mm across.

Firewheel/blanketflower/gaillardia is the toughest of the wildflowers in the yard, always blooming longest and latest. Nice color, but it's looking a bit ragged.

Protected by a fence, this black-eyed susan is very much alive, with its dark disc flowers still opening, progressing from outside in.

This is my contribution to the October gathering of treefollowers, kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. Want to try it? More info here. By the way, it's easy and stress-free!

Green and Red; Stipules and Suckers

In the foreground is skinny Spike, the hawthorn. Behind is Flash, the maple (red canopy).

Since my last report, there has been only a little change in the trees I'm following. Flash's canopy has become even more red, though we've had nothing close to a frost. Spike is still a skinny odd-looking "tree".

Flash has only a few green leaves. The foliage is pretty ragged all in all.

When backlit, the aging samaras (keys) are still beautiful.

For Spike, it is the young leaves that are reddish. The rest are still green.

Now, for botany nerds ...

This month, Spike brought up several botanical terms which I "know" but not really; terms I've heard and even used for decades, but when pressed to explain, can't. At least not confidently. So I asked Google, the expert on everything (we hope).

Stipule: "an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf ..."

If you like order, stipule classification is for you! There are types based on many different characteristics, such as duration, shape, size, position, modification, and more. I preferred the summary of function: "Stipules have various functions. Some stipules are not well understood or may be vestigial." This is the way I feel about many things these days.

This hawthorn has foliaceous stipules, i.e., similar to leaves. Being green, perhaps they contribute to photosynthesis—the business of making energy for the tree. I would guess Spike could use the help, having recently recovered from near death. And maybe this is why stipules are more prominent on the suckers (the next topic).

Enlarge to see stipules at base of leaves.

Suckers seem to be universally despised, according to Google. For example, "young stems sprouting from the base or from a spot on the trunk ... are called suckers, because they zap water and nutrients from the main tree. As suckers are unhealthy for trees and they are unsightly, it’s important to know how to eliminate them ..." More here.

The Wikipedia article about Plant Development is more open-minded (see Adventitious structures; Buds and shoots). "Adventitious buds [buds that develop in unusual locations on the plant] are often formed after the stem is wounded or pruned. The adventitious buds help to replace lost branches." I agree! Adventitious shoots are very helpful in this situation.

This is my September report for the monthly gathering of tree-followers kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. Worried about another long covid winter? Consider joining us. Tree-following is a good diversion, even in winter, and it's stress-free! More information here.

Tree-following: Red and Green

Both trees I'm following this year are red and green, but in different ways. Last month, Flash the maple was covered in green leaves and red samaras. The samaras are still red but looking duller. And the leaves are starting to turn red. It hasn't been cold, not even close. Could this be due to heat and smoke? Or maybe just normal life for Flash.

Spike the hawthorn still has rich green leaves, while the young emerging leaves are reddish. No flowers or fruit this year, but that's fine. Having nearly died (or so it looked!), Spike is to be commended for the healthy shoots and foliage.

Fresh young hawthorn leaf, with ant.

This my contribution to the August gathering of tree-followers. Thanks to The Squirrrelbasket for hosting!

Christmas in July and a Surprise!

Hotwings Maple indeed!

Flash, the maple, is looking very Christmasy, with a canopy of green leaves and red samaras (aka keys or whirlybirds).

The big surprise is Spark, the hawthorn, which I thought was dead last month. It's definitely alive! It has put out shoots along the trunk, from buds likely activated by damage to the upper part of the tree (which still looks quite dead).

Leafy shoots are clearly visible at the base of the dead crown. See the one below the lower tie?

There are quite a few shoots emerging, all the way to the base.

Always a fan of the underdog, I told the city arborist that I want to keep this tree ... or maybe now a bush.

Beginnings of a bush?

This is my contribution to the July gathering of tree-followers, kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. More news here.