# Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)

> Silver maple, Acer saccharinum: a large tree of 50 to 120 feet for zones 3 to 9, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/silver-maple/

![A floodplain forest of tall silver maples, a clump of leaning dark trunks at right under a light green canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/silver-maple-2-1000.jpg?v=0733008e "Silver maple forest at Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Still River, Massachusetts, on September 20, 2011. It grows wild in floodplain forests, in swamps and on stream banks.")
*Photo: Chris M Morris, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAcer_saccharinum_Oxbow_NWR.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 120 feet, zones 3 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow silver maple, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Silver Maple |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | White maple, river maple, silverleaf maple |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 120 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 70 |
| Zones | 3 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value |
| Flowers | February to May |
| Fruit | Samaras, April to June |
| First crop | 11 years |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Many silver maples carry only male or only female flowers, while others carry both and can set seed on their own, so plant several if you want seed. |
| Lifespan | Can live 130 years or more. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on silver maple marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Sensitive, on the Morton Arboretum's list, though the Missouri Botanical Garden lists black walnut among what it tolerates |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 37 states and the District of Columbia |

Silver maple is native in 37 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=silver-maple&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=silver-maple): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=silver-maple:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=silver-maple): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Sugarberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sugarberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis laevigata*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Black Gum (Tupelo)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/index.html.md) (*Nyssa sylvatica*): large tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Northern Catalpa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-catalpa/index.html.md) (*Catalpa speciosa*): large tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Swamp Laurel Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-laurel-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus laurifolia*): large tree, 40 to 80 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of silver maple in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=silver-maple)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System and UF/IFAS Extension.