12/17/20 OT: Sizzurp By Senor Beef on Dec 17, 2020, 6:52am CST 1162 NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY Get the flapjacks ready for National Maple Syrup Day. December 17th calls for orders of pancakes, french toast, or biscuits topped off with butter and delicious maple syrup. It is usually from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees that maple syrup is made from although it not limited to those maple species. These trees, in cold climates, store starch in their trunks and in their roots. In the spring, the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap. The maple trees are then tapped by boring holes into their trunks and the released sap is collected. After the sap is collected, it is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.