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NAME: Maple tree family

SPECIES / FAMILY:  see at bottom / Aceraceae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): 

CONDITIONS: sun – partial shade
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves	young		RAW/COOK	Spring
Stalk/Stem
Buds
Flowers
Fruits
Pods
Seeds	samuras		COOK	Spring
Nuts
Roots
Bark	inner		COOK/DRY
Sap		sweet	RAW/COOK	Feb/Mar

 

PORTION: medium

 

COMMENT: They (maples) all provide the same edibles: Sap, seeds, inner bark and sweet young leaves. Regardless of species — there are over 200 including Birch, Hickories, Sycamore and Ashes — tapping trees is done the same way.(2) The sap contains quite a large proportion of sugar. This can be used as a refreshing drink, or be concentrated into a syrup by boiling off the water. The syrup is used as a sweetener on many foods. The sap can be harvested in late winter or early spring, the flow is best on a warm sunny day after a frost. The best sap production comes from cold-winter areas with continental climates. The sap contains 2 - 6% sugar, thus about 32 litres are required to make a litre of maple syrup. Self-sown seedlings, gathered in early spring, are eaten fresh or dried for later use. Seeds - cooked. The wings are removed and the seeds boiled then eaten hot. Inner bark - cooked. It is dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickening in soups etc or mixed with cereals when making bread.(1)

 

CAUTION:

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:  https://draxe.com/maple-syrup-nutrition

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

 

OTHER USES: Fuel;  Potash;  Preservative;  Wood. The leaves are packed around apples, rootcrops etc to help preserve them. Wood - close grained, tough, hard, heavy, strong...it takes a high polish, remains smooth under abrasion and has a high shock-resistance. It holds nails well, is fair in gluing, dries easily and shrinks moderately. Considered by many to be the most valuable hardwood tree in N. America, the sugar maple is used for a wide range of applications including furniture, flooring, turnery, musical instruments and ship building. Accidental forms with the grain curled and contorted, known as curly maple and bird's eye maple, are common and are highly prized in cabinet making. The ashes of the wood are rich in alkali and yield large quantities of potash.(1)  Many Stradivarius and other older Italian violins are suspected to have been constructed from Norway maple. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_platanoides

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+saccharum (see more species below)
2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/maples-how-sweet-it-is-2
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple
   • Sugar Maple - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharum / https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+saccharum
   • Silver Maple - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharinum / https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+saccharinum
   • Norway Maple - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_platanoides / https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+platanoides
   • Box Elder - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_negundo / https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acer+negundo

4. How to make almost any edible tree leaf chip: https://www.killingthyme.net/2015/12/16/perfect-kale-chips/
5. http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/maple.html (good photos)
6. https://nowthisnews.com/videos/food/deep-fried-maple-leaves-are-a-tradition-in-this-japanese-village (recipes)
7. https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2014/10/22/fried_maple_leaves_appear_on_canoe_restaurants_menu.html (recipes)
8. https://www.ediblewildfood.com/deep-fried-maple-leaves.aspx (recipes)
9. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fried-maple-leaves-japan_n_5939344