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Autumn Leaves |
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Flowers & leaves in spring |
Maple, Bigtooth - Acer saccharum subsp. grandidentatum
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Leaves |
Flowers |
Maple, 'Rocky Mountain Glow' Bigtooth - Acer saccharum subsp. grandidentatum 'Schmidt'
Flower Description
"Maple trees have both male and female flowers on the same plant, which makes it a monoecious species. The male flower is usually slightly smaller than the female, and contains the sperm necessary to pollinate the female flowers and produce seeds. Although the buds differ in size, they are usually the same color, buds ranging from yellow-green to a reddish hue depending on the species." (SF Gates Home Guide)
Ethnobotanical Uses
Food:
"Algonquin, Quebec Sauce & Relish Sap used to make sugar. --- Micmac Beverage Bark used to make a beverage." (Moerman 41)
"Some tribes made a favorite chewy candy by taking thin shavings from the inside of animal hides and mixing them in maple syrup. Maple sap can be used straight from the tree as a drink or as a cooking liquid, and it can also be fermented to make wine or vinegar. The sweet inner bark of Rocky Mountain maple was gathered in spring and used to make wine. Some sources report that de-winged maple seeds were cooked in milk and butter as a vegetable, but that they are not very palatable. --- Warning: Some maple seeds are reported to be poisonous. Ingestion of wilted maple leaves may break down red blood cells and cause acute anemia in horses" (Kershaw 58)
Medicine:
"Iroquois Blood Medicine Complex compound used as a blood purifier. --- Eye Medicine Compound infusion of bark used as drops for blindness. Sap used for sore eyes. Mohegan Cough Medicine Inner bark used as a cough remedy. Potawatomi Expectorant Inner bark used as an expectorant." (Moerman 41)
"Branches of Rocky Mountain maple were used to make teas that were taken as medicine and used as washes to reduce swelling and heal snake bites." (Kershaw 58)
Other Uses:
"Cherokee Building Material Wood used for lumber. Furniture Wood used to make furniture. Malecite Canoe Material Wood used to make paddles and oars. --- Ojibwa Cooking Tools Wood used to make paddles for stirring maple sugar or wild rice while scorching or parching it. Wood used to make bowls and many other objects of utility." (Moerman 41)
"Rocky Mountain maple wood is very strong when dried, and it was used to make arrows, snowshoes, bows, spoons, handles, hoops and cradle frames. --- Maple wood produces hot, long-burning incense and making spiritual medicines." (Kershaw 58)