# Botany question: Is the sugar maple unique? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226 "2013-11-19T02:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/21 "2013-11-19T17:10:51Z")
I saw [aloe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera) syrup in a health food store today. It was combined with maple syrup. Anyone know if it is any good? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/22 "2013-11-19T17:21:31Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I saw [aloe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera) syrup in a health food store today. It was combined with maple syrup. Anyone know if it is any good? We’ve had aloe syrup around in the past. It’s closer to a watery honey, in flavor, than to maple syrup. Interesting to try, but for us, not interesting enough to make it worth the cost as a regularly used item. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/23 "2013-11-19T20:42:17Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Does the tapping of this surge of sap, which deprives the leaves of the nutrients, have a noticeable effect on the number or quality of leaves produced during the subsequent season? > > Also, aren’t the leaves instrumental in the creation of the following spring’s sap supply? Is there a best-practice among maple-sugar-ranchers to give some of their trees a year off to prevent deterioration of the grove’s ability to produce a quality yield? I don’t know the details of tree management. I’d guess that the taps only take a small fraction of the sap. At worst it probably only slows down leaf growth. After all, trees grow leaves and extend branches the whole spring and summer. The sap run is just the jump-start at the beginning of the season. I’m sure long-time growers have a good feel for how much they can take without hurting the trees. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/24 "2013-11-19T20:59:18Z")
Are you talking about sugary saps only? Because I think rubber trees produce a seemingly endless amount of sap, like maples. Only it makes rubber, not sweet syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/25 "2013-11-19T21:14:38Z")
Holland and Barrett, a kinda corporate health store has a **[very pretty](http://www.neera-detox-diet.com/productsingredients.php)** 1 litre tin of **[Neera Syrup](http://www.neeranaturalcanada.com/#!/page_about)** composed of one fifth maple and four types of Asian Palm Tree saps. At £44 a litre, I haven’t sampled it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/26 "2013-11-19T23:27:27Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Holland and Barrett, a kinda corporate health store has a **[very pretty](http://www.neera-detox-diet.com/productsingredients.php)** 1 litre tin of **[Neera Syrup](http://www.neeranaturalcanada.com/#!/page_about)** composed of one fifth maple and four types of Asian Palm Tree saps. > At £44 a litre, I haven’t sampled it. Looks like it also includes snake oil. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/27 "2013-11-20T15:08:13Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I don’t know the details of tree management. I’d guess that the taps only take a small fraction of the sap. At worst it probably only slows down leaf growth. After all, trees grow leaves and extend branches the whole spring and summer. The sap run is just the jump-start at the beginning of the season. > > I’m sure long-time growers have a good feel for how much they can take without hurting the trees. Around here they have even taken to running a vacuum on the taps, pumping out much more sap than ever before and it seems to have no ill effects on the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/28 "2013-11-20T15:42:19Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Around here they have even taken to running a vacuum on the taps, pumping out much more sap than ever before and it seems to have no ill effects on the trees. Doubtless we’ll soon see battles between tree huggers and tree suckers. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/29 "2013-11-20T15:51:35Z")
Druids vs. tree vampires ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/30 "2013-11-21T04:47:39Z")
Wait, do druids even _care_ about trees that aren’t oaks? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/31 "2013-11-21T07:14:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait, do druids even _care_ about trees that aren’t oaks? Yew bet. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/32 "2013-11-21T07:49:57Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait, do druids even _care_ about trees that aren’t oaks? Druids are neutral on that issue (geek joke). ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/33 "2013-11-21T21:25:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So my father went and looked all over their operation and then told them, _“There’s a lot of things that can cause problems when you’re making maple syrup. You could tap too high or too low on the tree. You could tap too early or too late in the season. You could be boiling too much or too little sap. You could be cooking at too high or too low a temperature. But in your case, the problem is you’re using oak trees.”_ LOL! Not sure if serious, Maple and Oak trees look a lot different. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/34 "2013-11-21T21:43:30Z")
I was at a restaurant in Japan once that had an interesting part of a [_kaiseki_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiseki) meal. One dish was tofu, boiled in an open “pot” made of a piece of bamboo. Imagine a mature bamboo stalk cut in a short length and then split open along one side. The tofu was kept warm in water in the bamboo with a flame underneath. At either end, a cup was placed to collect the sap that the heat had driven out. This sap was then added to the sake we were drinking. That sure made an impression on this _gaijin_!! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/35 "2013-11-22T07:56:00Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > The other factor, besides taste, is that the sap from sugar maples has a much greater concentration of sugar to water (1-40) than others trees, such as birch (1-100). Some other possible trees are even lower. What people don’t realize is the volume required. > > The desired ratio fro syrup is approx. 67% or 2-1. That’s alot of sap to collect, not to mention the time, and energy it would take to boil off all that water. Before I helped do it one year, I had no idea that sugar maple “sap” was really just slightly sweet water. I thought they said they collected 40 gallons for each gallon of syrup, but I may be misremembering. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _“There’s a lot of things that can cause problems when you’re making maple syrup. You could tap too high or too low on the tree. You could tap too early or too late in the season. You could be boiling too much or too little sap. You could be cooking at too high or too low a temperature. But in your case, the problem is you’re using oak trees.”_ That was good for a laugh! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/36 "2013-11-22T09:31:12Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Before I helped do it one year, I had no idea that sugar maple “sap” was really just slightly sweet water. I looked that up. WTF it’s xylem? It’s been awhile since Biology 101, but I wouldn’t think that. I guess it makes sense because they don’t tap too deep, but what happens if you make maple phloem syrup? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226/37 "2013-11-22T14:57:44Z")
if you boil the sap too vigorously it does phloem up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-question-is-the-sugar-maple-unique/674226.md?page=1)