Norway Maple?

[Todd]

Cut about 1/2 cord of this from the city recycle area. The leaves look similar to Black Maple and the bark is a dark blue/black but since it's a city tree I'm thinking Norway.

The city has been very good to me this Summer. I cut about 3 cords so far with a variety of Oak, Maple, Ash, iron wood and Black Locust. I was thinking of buying wood this year to stay 3 years ahead but as long as they let me scrounge their recycle area for free I will.

 

[jjs777_fzr]

Good score. I dont know why they consider Norway Maple an invasive species - they look okay to me and give my neighborhood plenty of nice shade.
And probably 60% of what I burn is Norway.

 

[Todd]

That Maple was also heavy as heck. Twice as heavy as the Black Locust and Oak I took. I don't think I ever burned Norway Maple before, does it burn similar to Red or Silver?

 

[Thistle]

Good stuff,distant botanical cousin to Sugar/Hard Maple,pretty much same density,better than Silver or Red. Got 2/3rds pickup load when I pruned several large limbs off neighbors tree in June 2011.Stacked on south side of storage shed,full sun 3/4ths of the day.Dries very quickly,was full of cracks & loose bark after 8 months.Gonna be the first wood I burn this fall.

 

[coverdome]

Don't look Norwayish to me. Could be regional differences

 

[rdust]

Norway maple in my back yard has a diamond shaped pattern in the bark similar to ash.

Maybe it's sugar maple the bark on sugar maple seems to drastically change with age.

 

[ScotO]

That's not norway maple. That looks like sugar maple IMHO. Norway maple bark is totally different.

 

[ScotO]

That Maple was also heavy as heck. Twice as heavy as the Black Locust and Oak I took. I don't think I ever burned Norway Maple before, does it burn similar to Red or Silver?

Norway maple is almost as good as sugar maple in terms of burning, but it does take longer to season than silver or red. I have tons of it in my stacks, wouldn't be without sugar or norway. Actually every species of maple are good for burning, silver and red are good shoulder season woods as they dry out faster, sugar and norway will hold the fire longer. Lots of clinkers in the ash when you burn maple, though....

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Sugar Maple I believe. Bark does not look right for Norway Maple.

 

[Todd]

Well whatever it is it's going in the stove in a few years and should be primo.

 

[Thistle]

I even used a few fist-sized chunks of it last summer to smoke a store-bought wild salmon filet.Was pretty tasty,saved a 5 gallon bucket worth of scrap of the stuff for future use.Not much Sugar Maple around me (dont think my neighbors down the street would be too fond of me dropping that beast in their backyard ) so this was a good substitute....

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't think that is Norway Maple. Maybe Sugar Maple.

 

[firefighterjake]

Leaf looks an awful lot like sugar maple.

 

[Cutterman]

Sure looks like Sugar Maple to me. I cut an burn plenty of Norway. The wood and leaf pic you posted really looks like Sugar.

 

[simple.serf]

+1 on the sugar maple, bark looks like most of the trees that I drill (3000+ in 3 days!). Our trees are mixes of black, silver,and Norway. Sugar Content of sap is usually 2.5+. Should burn great.

 

[Stegman]

I dont know why they consider Norway Maple an invasive species - they look okay to me and give my neighborhood plenty of nice shade.

Agree wholeheartedly. We have three of them side-by-side in my yard and they're beautiful. I think they get a bad rap.

 

[Wood Duck]

+1 on the sugar maple, bark looks like most of the trees that I drill (3000+ in 3 days!). Our trees are mixes of black, silver,and Norway. Sugar Content of sap is usually 2.5+. Should burn great.

Are you saying you tap Silver, Black, and Norway Maple trees for sap and make syrup?

 

[Wood Duck]

Agree wholeheartedly. We have three of them side-by-side in my yard and they're beautiful. I think they get a bad rap.

They are considered invasive because they spread by seeds into the woods and take over. There are lots of woods in Pennsylvania that are dominated by Norway Maple and almost nothing else grows there. Norway Maples cast a dense shade and their roots are very competitive, so there usually are no shrubs or wildflowers under Norway Maples. In your yard they seem well behaved, but where are the seeds going?

 

[Stegman]

In my neighbors yard?

Seriously, we try to pick up the seeds when they fall, but I haven't seen any signs of saplings around anywhere in my yard or in my neighbors.

 

[Wood Duck]

If you don't like near woods then your tree isn't creating a problem. In my opinion nobody should plant Norway Maples anywhere in North America because it is too hard to judge which ones will spread to the woods and create a problem that just gets bigger and bigger, but for sure there are some Norway maples that don't have the chance to spread because they are surrounded by suburbs or city. Even if seedlings appear in the neighbor's yard it isn't like they will destroy the native vegetation - your neighbor will mow 'em. The woods is a different story.

For my money Sugar Maple is a better looking tree and just about as easy to grow. Sugar maples have great fall color, Norway Maple less so.

 

[Brewmonster]

Amen, Wood Duck!!

 

[gzecc]

As others have said its definetely not Norway Maple.

 

[ScotO]

Are you saying you tap Silver, Black, and Norway Maple trees for sap and make syrup?

Yep, you can use any maple tree for making syrup. Even shagbark hickory and birch trees make great syrup. But if you want high sugar content per gallon of sap, sugar maple is the way to go. It is usually <2.5% in sugar, with some trees even getting up in the 4% range. I used to use all types of maples for my syrup as we have a mix of them over on the farm. Now that I have several groves of old growth sugar maples, I use them exclusively.