Does anyone know if there is such a thing as black maple? My friend was talking about trying to find one to put in his yard because he'd seen one in Chicago that was really nice. I was wondering if he had it confused with black oak.

If there is a black maple, does anyone know of a good source and are they hardy in zone 4?

Try Mountain Maples. Yes, there is such a thing as a black maple...Georgeous, too.

Yes, there is such a thing as Black Maple (Acer nigrum). According to my "Trees of Ontario" book, it ranges mostly in the extreme south of the province, growing in the Carolinian areas... south of a line between Toronto and Sarnia, as well as in a few pockets north of there around Kingston and Ottawa. There are definitely pockets of Zone 4 in these areas.

Other notes of interest from the book:
- shade-tolerant saplings
- can be tapped for maple syrup
- some taxonomists classify it as a variety of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) but there are distinguishing features between the two - black and sugar. (I spent many an hour in a bush during college trying to tell the difference between them!)
- also known as hard maple and rock maple
- can grow to be 20-30 m tall (60-80 feet)
- likes moist fertile sites in bottomlands and on floodplains

I'm not sure of a good source for your area though. Maybe start with local nurseries?

Does that help?

Thanks for the info. It does help. The tree, if we can find one, sounds like it should do well in his yard.