Maple Magic

If you live in central New York, you have probably seen Sugar Maple trees decorated with buckets and tubes, collecting sap to make that sticky pancake topping we adore. Last week when I was sitting underneath a grand Sugar Maple, preparing to teach our Nature in the City first graders about this remarkable process, I noticed something astonishing. I was surrounded by the maple’s winged helicopter seeds and they were all standing vertically as if they had grown straight up out of the Earth. 

A sea of seedlings. Do you see??

Upon further inspection I realized that they actually were growing out of the Earth! Thousands of Maple seeds had sprouted and the winged seed coats were still clinging to the little seedlings, protecting the baby leaves until they outgrew their tiny shelter. They had waited under the snow all winter long for this breathtaking event.

Standing sprouts

Sprouting samara

After doing some literal digging to inspect the infant Maples, I did some figurative digging and discovered that Sugar Maples tend to produce massive amounts of viable seeds cyclically, usually at 2 to 5 year intervals. This great Mother Maple must have done something right because she certainly had one of these good years. I can imagine the school 30 years later, surrounded by a forest of Sugar Maples in the middle of Syracuse. Alas, the seedlings’ fate is sealed; in a few weeks they will all be cut along with the grass, but I will not forget this magical event. It just goes to show that no matter how much time you spend outdoors, nature will always have new surprises in store.

Blog post by Emily Van Ness