- [Mark] This is Mark Isselhardt, Maple Specialist
with University of Vermont Extension
and this is another Vermont Maple Minute.
Sugar makers and community members alike have noticed
a large number of sugar maple seedlings this spring.
These first year trees were the result
of a large seed year in 2019.
Sugar maples begin producing seed
when they're about 40 years old or eight inches in diameter.
Trees produce some seed every year
but exceptionally large amounts of seed
every two to five years.
Seed production becomes greater as the tree grows
and mature trees can produce
thousands of seeds in big years.
Mature stands of sugar maple are capable
of producing millions of seeds per acre.
Maple seeds are winged and produced in pairs,
also known as samaras.
Usually only one side of the double samara is viable.
When the seed is ripe, after about 12 weeks,
it is dispersed by the wind by as much as 300 feet.
Maple seeds are an important source of wildlife food.
Sugar maple seeds have a high natural rate of germination
but need temperatures just above freezing
for about 35 to 90 days in order to start growing.
Of the seeds that do germinate
only a small percentage will survive the first year.
This is Mark Isselhardt, Maple Specialist
with the University of Vermont Extension,
and this has been another Vermont Maple Minute.