April 15 Norway Maple Flowers

Today I finally noticed another street tree beginning to flower. Norway maples (Atar platanoides), are one of the most commonly and widely cultivated and naturalized trees in North America. Native in Europe to western Asia, these maples were chosen for American town for their classic tree shape and dense shade, which forms a nice wall over streets. When norway maples are young, their bark has faint stripes, and then in maturity the bark can be confused with ash as each have deep, neat furrows. The best way to distinguish an ash is its gigantic twigs and buds. However, both trees are opposite-branching, two of only 6 such trees in Wisconsin that I know about. Opposite branches grow directly across from each other, like the way your arms look when you hold them out. A good way to remember the six opposite trees is the acronym HMDAVE, said like "hmmmmmmmmmdaaaave." Horsechestnut, maple, dogwood, ash, viburnum, and elderberry are the six opposite-branching trees. Also, if you realize you have a norway maple near you, it is possible to tap them for sap and make syrup, they just aren't as sugary as sugar maple trees. But, you'll have to wait until next year because syrup season is over for now.