Maple Sugaring Signs
Written for Cincinnati Parks
I collaborated with three other writers to develop a series of interpretive signs on maple sugaring for Caldwell Nature Preserve, a park in tthe Cincinnati Parks system.​ The series focused on the history of maple syrup, maple tree identification, sugaring equipment, and the sugaring process. I was in charge of research for all four signs, and I wrote the script for the tree identification sign, which is shown below. Other teammates focused on sign design and recording audio. ​
The QR code on the sign below is no longer active. Please use the audio player below the sign. The script's text is below the audio player.
Take a look at the trees all around you.
Ohio is home to dozens of native tree species, but only one tree produces the maple sap that we turn into a sugary syrup: the sugar maple.
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Sugar maple sap contains about 2-2.5% sugar, which makes it the sweetest of all maple species.
Because people collect maple sap in the winter, you can’t always use leaves to identify the tree. If you want to figure out if a tree is a sugar maple, look at the branching pattern of the tree. Sugar maples have opposite branching, which means that the branches sit directly across from each other. If you put your arms up in the air into a V shape, your arms will look just like opposite branches.
You can also check a tree’s twigs to learn if it is a sugar maple. Some kinds of trees have twigs with a bud right at the very tip, and the sugar maple bud is shaped like a sugar cone, just like the one that you would find in an ice cream parlor. The bark of a sugar maple is gray, but the twigs are a coppery color, similar to a penny.
Try to see if you can find some sugar maples on this path as you walk.