Sugar Maple (Hard Maple) vs White Oak - TreeTime.ca

Sugar Maple (Hard Maple) vs White Oak

Acer saccharum

Quercus alba

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Sugar Maple (Hard Maple)
White Oak

Sugar Maple is a large, deciduous tree known for its brilliant fall yellow, orange, and red-orange color display.

This long-lived shade tree features unique "maple"
lobed leaves.

Note: this Zone 4 tree is unlikely to produce commercially viable sap on the prairies.

White Oak is large, long-lived tree with an irregular trunk divided into spreading, often horizontal, stout branches. A highly adaptable tree, White Oak features green acorns and beautiful green leaves that turn red-purple in the fall.

With a huge growth in bourbon and scotch over the past few decades there is an emerging shortage of white oak that is the primary tree used for cask barrels and aging.

Note: Most Oak species can be considered toxic for many animals.

Sugar Maple (Hard Maple) Quick Facts

White Oak Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 4a
Height: 20 m (66 ft)
Height: 30 m (98 ft)
Spread: 11 m (35 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: long
Suckering: none
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium


Foliage: red-pink changing to bright yellow-green
Fall colour: dark red
Nuts: acorns
Seeds: winged samara
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB, PE
Native to: ON, QC
Other Names: hard maple, rock maple