Tree species: Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
Location: Von Halfern Park
Trunk circumference: 7.20 meters
Trunk height: 20 meters
Age: around 130 years old
This park was laid out in the English style according to the plans of the city garden director Grube. The park was intended as an arboretum to showcase the diversity of non-European trees. This silver maple is around 130 years old. The silver maple flowers early in March before the leaves emerge and is therefore valued by beekeepers as a honey bee pasture. The wing fruits fall in early summer and germinate in the same year.
The maples originate from North America, and the shape of the leaf adorns the Canadian flag. In its native country, the rising sweet sap is harvested in spring and used to sweeten maple syrup.
