In Search of the Ancients – The Comfort Maple

We had heard of this tree for many years but never really got around to visiting it. On the year we decided to go, it was a year where the Sugar Maples were not producing seed keys so we postponed the trip. But this year was different. There was sporadic seed production and it felt like this was our moment.

As we wound our way on the Niagara escarpment we took several wrong turns and got frustrated. We knew we were in the right vicinity of the Comfort Maple but just circling. Finally, we saw the tree in the distance and you knew it was our maple. It completely dominated the agricultural landscape for miles. As we pulled into the parking lot there were some maple keys on the ground. We quickly scooped them up and thanked last night’s rainstorm for this bounty.

Why were we so excited to obtain some seed keys from this tree? The Comfort Maple (Acer saccharum) is dated circa 1500 AD and is believed to be Canada’s oldest Sugar Maple. Edna Comfort donated the land that their family had farmed since 1816 to preserve the tree in 1961. We wanted to add the genetics of this tree to our ancient tree program and preserve this magnificent tree.