Photo by Public domain (iNaturalist) on iNaturalist · CC0 (public domain)
Maple sap
Acer saccharum
- When
- Typically February – April — February, March, April. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Sugar bush, hedgerows and yards — any mature maple over 25 cm across.
- How to know it
- Sugar maple has five-lobed leaves with smooth-sided notches and grey furrowed bark. Any maple can be tapped; sugar and black maples run sweetest.
- Look-alikes
- Birch and walnut can also be tapped, later and with different flavour. Nothing dangerous.
- Harvest and use
- Tap when days rise above freezing and nights fall below. Roughly 40 litres of sap to one of syrup.
Found in these regions
- Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Lowlands
- Acadian Forest & Atlantic Coast
- Appalachian Highlands
- Northeast Atlantic Coast & Piedmont
- Central Hardwoods & Interior Plateaus
- Boreal Forest & Shield
Hardiness zones 3–6.
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Also ready in September
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
NutSeptember – OctoberBlack walnut
Juglans nigra
Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.