Tree · Aceraceae
Silver maple
Acer saccharinum
Silver maple is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,267 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Silver maple at a glance
- Native in
- 1,267 counties, across 36 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −47°F
- Mature height
- 90 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −47°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Silver maple is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,267 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,267 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 25 counties
- Arkansas 70 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 10 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 64 counties
- Iowa 18 counties
- Kansas 57 counties
- Kentucky 115 counties
- Louisiana 26 counties
- Maine 12 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 47 counties
- Minnesota 46 counties
- Mississippi 37 counties
- Missouri 113 counties
- Nebraska 19 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 14 counties
- New York 29 counties
- North Carolina 17 counties
- Ohio 82 counties
- Oklahoma 45 counties
- Pennsylvania 57 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 6 counties
- South Dakota 10 counties
- Tennessee 40 counties
- Texas 9 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 70 counties
- West Virginia 40 counties
- Wisconsin 45 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 90 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Rounded
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 7.3
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 32 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Aceraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ACSA2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Acer saccharinum (PLANTS symbol ACSA2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources