Can you tap a boxelder for syrup?

Yes, with caveats. Yes, it's a real maple and its sap can be sweet — just expect less of it and a darker, molasses-like syrup. Its sap sugar is often 2% or more (2.2–2.8% in a Utah study); individual trees can top 3–4%.

How much boxelder sap makes a gallon of syrup?

About 31 to 39 gallons of sap make one gallon of syrup at its usual 2.2–2.8% sap sugar, by the updated Rule of 86. Most boxelder syrup has its own molasses- or sorghum-like flavor, strongest in darker grades — boil it separately from other maples. On the Canadian prairies it's sold as “Manitoba maple syrup.” A bucket tap typically makes about a third to half a quart of syrup a year, vs. roughly a quart from sugar maple.

When do you tap a boxelder?

Boxelder breaks bud earlier than sugar maple, so plan on an early, shorter run. In the Utah study it flowed for about five to six weeks, from late February or early March into early April.

Acer negundo · also Ashleaf maple, Manitoba maple

Can you tap a boxelder?

Short answer

Fair, lower yield

Yes, with caveats. Yes, it's a real maple and its sap can be sweet — just expect less of it and a darker, molasses-like syrup.

Sap sugar: 2.2–2.8%
Sap : syrup: 31–39 : 1

Boxelder winter twig: a smooth green stem with whitish bloom, fuzzy pinkish-white buds, and opposite leaf scars meeting in points — Photo: DouglasGoldman, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mature boxelder bark in March, light gray with shallow interlacing furrows and narrow ridges — Photo: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fallen boxelder compound leaves, each with three to five leaflets, lying on autumn leaf litter — Photo: Gorbunova M.S. (Горбунова М.С.), CC BY-SA 4.0

Leaf-off ID

Identify it in winter

01Opposite branching — boxelder is a true maple, even though it doesn't look like one.
02Twigs are green to purplish-green, often with a whitish waxy bloom.
03Buds are white and fuzzy; the narrow opposite leaf scars meet in raised points around the twig.
04Clusters of V-shaped winged seeds often hang on all winter.
05Bark is thin, pale gray to light brown, with shallow ridges that deepen with age. Trees are often multi-trunked with a bushy crown and sprouts along the trunk.

In summer

The only native maple with compound leaves: 3–7 (rarely 9) leaflets.
The end leaflet often looks like a small, three-lobed maple leaf.

Easily confused with

Green ash

Also opposite with compound leaves, but its leaves carry 7–9 leaflets, its gray to green-brown twigs have semicircular leaf scars with the bud perched on top, and its seeds are single-winged instead of paired.

Sap sugar: Often 2% or more (2.2–2.8% in a Utah study); individual trees can top 3–4%
Season: Boxelder breaks bud earlier than sugar maple, so plan on an early, shorter run. In the Utah study it flowed for about five to six weeks, from late February or early March into early April.
Syrup: Most boxelder syrup has its own molasses- or sorghum-like flavor, strongest in darker grades — boil it separately from other maples. On the Canadian prairies it's sold as “Manitoba maple syrup.” A bucket tap typically makes about a third to half a quart of syrup a year, vs. roughly a quart from sugar maple.
Range: The most widespread maple in North America — coast to coast, from Canada south to Guatemala, most at home along streams and bottomlands.

How many are out there?

about82 million

boxelders 10 inches and up on US forest land, by the Forest Service’s count.

About 49 million of them in the 17 atlas states
About 7.5 million are 18 inches and up, big enough for a second tap

±3.5% sampling error. All 50 states’ latest inventories, plots measured 2013–2025. FIA counts trees on forest land only. Yard, street and farm trees are not counted, so true numbers are higher. How FIA counts →

County counts in the maple atlas →

Tapping it?

Sources · 8

1.North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, 2nd ed. (Bulletin 856) — Ch. 3 “The Maple Resource” and Ch. 7 “Rule of 86” · Ohio State University Extension with the North American Maple Syrup Council
2.Boxelder (Acer negundo) — Overton · USDA Forest Service — Silvics of North America (Agriculture Handbook 654, 1990)
3.Red Maple (Acer rubrum) — Walters & Yawney · USDA Forest Service — Silvics of North America (Agriculture Handbook 654, 1990)
4.Boxelder (Acer negundo) — Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet · Virginia Tech Dendrology (Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation)
5.Sap Yield and Sugar Content of Boxelder and Norway Maple Trees in Northern Utah (HortTechnology 34(1), 2024) · Utah State University / American Society for Horticultural Science

Show 3 more

6.Identifying Maple Trees (Maple Toolkit) · Ohio State University Extension — Ohio Woodland Stewards
7.Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) — Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet · Virginia Tech Dendrology (Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation)
8.Forest Inventory and Analysis: live trees on forest land by species and diameter (FIADB 1.9.5, EVALIDator / FIADB-API), accessed 2026-10-07 · USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program

FAQ

Boxelder questions

Can you tap a boxelder for syrup?: Yes, with caveats. Yes, it's a real maple and its sap can be sweet — just expect less of it and a darker, molasses-like syrup. Its sap sugar is often 2% or more (2.2–2.8% in a Utah study); individual trees can top 3–4%.
How much boxelder sap makes a gallon of syrup?: About 31 to 39 gallons of sap make one gallon of syrup at its usual 2.2–2.8% sap sugar, by the updated Rule of 86. Most boxelder syrup has its own molasses- or sorghum-like flavor, strongest in darker grades — boil it separately from other maples. On the Canadian prairies it's sold as “Manitoba maple syrup.” A bucket tap typically makes about a third to half a quart of syrup a year, vs. roughly a quart from sugar maple.
When do you tap a boxelder?: Boxelder breaks bud earlier than sugar maple, so plan on an early, shorter run. In the Utah study it flowed for about five to six weeks, from late February or early March into early April.

Tree ID