• According to the USDA, a common name for red maple is "soft maple."red maple leaf image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
  
  Depending on where you live and the local vernacular, a "soft maple" tree may mean either a silver maple (Acer saccharinum) or a red maple (Acer rubrum). Soft is a relative term, as nearly all maples have close-grained fairly hard wood when compared to other species, such as willow. However, neither species has wood as hard or as durable as that of the sugar or hard maple (Acer saccharum). But all the same, depending on your needs, both trees possess valuable characteristics as well as commercial and aesthetic uses.
  
  

Street Trees

• Because both red maple and silver maple can adapt to a range of soil conditions and grow rapidly, they will frequently be planted as street trees or landscape trees in both urban parks and cemeteries. In the case of the red maple, not only is it an excellent shade tree, its brilliant scarlet autumn foliage makes it a doubly desirable choice. Additionally, both species are often planted as landscape trees by homeowners.
  
  

Maple Syrup

• An article which appeared in the Spring 2009 edition of "Northern Woodlands" magazine suggested that while the sugar content of red maple sap is considerably less than that of sugar maple, its larger populations in both New England and New York make the species a viable alternative when tapping to make maple syrup. Sugarmakers have indicated that the sap contains higher levels of dissolved mineral salts, referred to within the syrup industry as nitre, but that the final product tastes as good as syrup produced from sugar maple sap.
  
  

Commercial Uses

• Both red maple and silver maple are frequently milled for timber. The resultant wood is often used in cabinetry, furniture, tool handles, cutting boards, butcher blocks, crates, pallets and wooden boxes. The heartwood of old silver maples often develops a swirled pattern, defined as "bird's eye maple." This premium-grade wood is then utilized to fashion high-end picture frames and furniture.
  
  

Game Attractant

• Because deer, wild turkeys, pheasants and other game animals consume either the seeds or browse the leaves and bark of silver maples and red maples, the trees can be used to sustain the local populations of these animals. For anyone who savors the unique taste of a well-cooked piece of venison, this might be the best use of these trees.
  
  

Firewood

• Red maple is an excellent source of firewood for two reasons. First, within the heart of its growing range, there usually is plenty of it, giving a woodlot owner a steady supply of homegrown fuel. Second, for a sugarbush owner wishing to thin the stand, cutting the red maple for burning wood gives the more desirable but slower growing sugar maples less competition for water and sunlight.