Silver maple has been planted in many Toronto parks and along city streets, particularly in residential areas. Silver maple is a prized urban tree and is one of the 10 most common trees in Toronto. Silver maple's place in Toronto's urban forest Return to top of page Silver maple IN TORONTO Hollow trunks and cavities in branches provide shelter and/or nesting sites for urban wildlife including birds such as wood ducks and mammals such as squirrels and raccoons. Its flowers, which appear late in winter, provide food for squirrels at a time when their winter food stores may be depleted. Silver maple is an important source of food for small mammals and birds. Silver maple's wood is soft and brittle and is used to make products such as crates, pulp, and veneer. The alternative name, soft, is the commercial name applied to silver maple wood. The common names, silver and white, refer to the colour of the underside of the leaves. The genus name Acer means sharp, referring to the sharp tips of the leaf lobes of most maples. Silver maple's species name ( saccharinum) means sugary, in reference to the sap, though silver maple sap is not as sweet as that of sugar maple ( Acer saccharum). For a comparison of the leaves of silver, red and Freeman's maple see Oregon State University Dept of Horticulture website. Silver maple naturally crosses with red maple ( Acer rubrum), producing the hybrid Freeman's maple ( Acer x fremanii), which has many cultivated varieties for urban planting. Current plant classification schemes now place maples in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, along with horsechestnut and Ohio buckeye, which also have palmate leaves. Until recently the maples belonged to their own family, Aceraceae. Silver maple is found on wet sites in mixed and deciduous forest throughout central and eastern North America.
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