![]() ![]() For instance, if you live in Oregon, the soft maple that you buy (if it has been harvested locally) will likely be bigleaf maple, while those living in the eastern United States may actually be buying red maple or silver maple. floridanum, respectively.ĭepending on where you live, different species might be sold as soft maple. But these species are far less commonly seen commercially, and they are both so closely related to hard maple that some even consider them to be sub-species of the same tree, classifying them as Acer saccharum subsp. ![]() Besides this one species of maple, the only other species that are sometimes considered in the grouping of hard maple in the United States are black maple (Acer nigrum) and Florida maple (Acer floridanum). Hard maple is also known as rock maple or sugar maple, (this is the same tree which is tapped to get maple syrup). Hard Maple, on the other hand, typically refers to one specific type of maple species: Acer saccharum. The term “soft maple” is merely used to differentiate these species from hard maple. ![]() The term “soft maple” does not refer to any specific species of maple, but rather, it’s a broad term which includes several different species of maple. The name “Pacific Coast” also comes from the fact that the trees often grow near the ocean and rarely more than 186 miles inland.Perhaps you’ve seen a type of lumber for sale known as “soft maple,” and were wondering: what’s the difference between between this Soft Maple and Hard Maple? Just how soft is it? Why does it cost about half as much as Hard Maple? How can I tell the two apart? Most of the estimated volume of standing saw timber in the United States is found in Washington and Oregon, while in Canada, big leaf/Pacific Coast maple is predominant in British Columbia. Considered to be moderately long-lived, some of the Pacific Coast maples live to 300 years of age. While the East Coast maples are the more predominantly used wood for maple syrup, the sap from Pacific Coast maples also can be made into syrup. Big leaf maple is an excellent shade tree. The name big leaf maple comes from the fact that its leaves are typically 12 inches across, although some can have widths of 24 inches. Small compared to its conifer associates, most mature big leaf maples are 50 to 60 feet tall, although large trees can reach heights of 100 feet with diameters of 36 to 48 in. The wood is one of the few commercial hardwood species on the Pacific Coast and the only commercial maple of note on the West Coast. The highly figured maple is used for the manufacture of electric guitar bodies and other musical instruments. ![]() It is also used for countertops, paint brush handles, picture frames, gift boxes and coat hangers. Pacific Coast maple is used for many of the classic applications for hardwoods, such as cabinets, furniture, mouldings and flooring. The species has a wide range of uses, including as a substitute for cherry. This “big leaf” maple is a wood of importance in the Pacific Northwest, second to red alder among native hardwood species in abundance and commercial importance. Pacific Coast maple - Acer macrophyllum - goes by a variety of terms, among them big leaf maple and Oregon maple, but by any name the domestic hardwood is known as the soft maple of the Western United States and Canada. Editor's Note: This Wood of the Month column is sponsored by Northwest Hardwoods ![]()
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