Commercial species of maple in the United States include sugar maple, black maple, silver maple, red maple, boxelder and bigleaf maple. These species are also known by many other names. Maple lumber and veneer originate from the Middle Atlantic and Lake States accounting for nearly two-thirds of the production.
The wood of sugar maple and black maple is known as hard maple; that of silver maple, red maple and boxelder as soft maple. The sapwood of maples is commonly white with a slight reddish brown tinge. Heartwood is usually light reddish brown, but sometimes is considerably darker.
Hard maples have a fine, uniform grain texture and are generally straight grained. Sugar maple may also occur as "birdseye", "curly" and "fiddleback" grain. Soft maple is not as heavy as hard maple, but has been substituted for hard maple in the better grades for furniture.
Maple is used primarily for lumber, veneer and pulpwood. The lumber and veneer are then remanufactured to produce flooring, furniture, woodenware and flush doors.
