Sugar maple

Its wood is one of the most highly prized in Canada for furniture. It is hard, strong, heavy and wear-resistant and takes a good finish. It is ideal for bowling alley flooring. It is used for cabinetwork, veneer and turned woodenware, as well as for tool handles, mouldings, sports equipment and musical instruments.

It makes excellent firewood, giving off a lot of heat and producing very hot coals.

The first trains travelled on wooden rails made from sugar maple.

Early settlers learned the art of making maple sugar and syrup from the Indigenous peoples. Although trees may be tapped in the fall, the best time to do so is the spring. For the sap to flow freely, nighttime temperatures must drop below freezing and daytime temperatures reach about 5°C. It usually takes about 40 litres of sap to make 1 litre of syrup. In the past, maple beer and vinegar were made from fermented sap.