My guess is Verticillium Wilt. Research that and see what you think. It is a soil based fungal disease that is common in your (our) area and hits Sugar Maples pretty hard. One tell tale clue is to cut through a section of the dead or dying branch and look for a greenish brown stain or streaking in the sapwood. To be absolutely sure, contact your local extension office and send them whatever sample they would need to run a test to confirm. Sorry to hear about this as unfortunately, there is really no cure for this malady. - Brad

I don't know about compatibility but it shouldn't be hard to find sugar maple seedlings. Look for forestry seedlings from state government run forestry departments. Now is the season to get them. Unfortunately, now is not the time to graft them. Wait until they are dormant again. During spring the rootstock will be growing actively and sap could flood and kill the graft union. summer grafting is possible but more difficult, That will give you a season to pot up and grow your new seedlings a little. And try as many seeds as you can get. They will not be clones, but still come from this seemingly sentimental specimen. If you grow enough you will find one you like, maybe better than the parent.

Where did you get Mexican Sugar Maple? It's not widely available. Heck, I only know of one place that sells it is at SFA plant sale that I bought one last week. I did grow one from seed but due to lack of space at the old house in Dallas area, I gave one to my neighbor. I wonder how it did this year. I collected a lot of seeds last week. Should be fun! I've grown Fire Dragon and it's the toughest one of all maples you've listed. I had one that was 18 ft tall and 15 ft wide. Doesn't look like Mexican Sugar Maple likes alkaline soil too much. How long as it been in the ground?

I live in Logan, UT. On average, our soil has a pH of 7.5-8.5. -Bigtooth Maple (Acer grandidentatum) will grow as much as you water it. It is very drought tolerant but will grow faster, bigger with more water. It is said to get up to 30 feet tall. So, kvolk's right. It doesn't get too big. But, it's native to the Rockies all the way down to New Mexico. I imagine it will feel at home in Texas. And, it is still young as far as it's urban landscape use. I don't think we can really put a limit on how big it will get in this kind of environment just yet. It's pH range is 6.0-8.0. It's fall color is brilliant. You will see hues of yellow, orange, red, maroon; sometimes on the same tree. I am a student at Utah State University in the Ornamental Horticulture program. This is one of the trees that has been and still is vastly researched in our program. We have a grove that has various budded cultivars from the mountains around us. It will grow as a multitrunk tree if it is not watered and trained. But, it takes to training well. Boxelder (Acer negundo) does well also. It can handle just about any soil condition you throw at it. It is also considered Xeric (less water use) and Riparian (stream beds). But, many consider it a trash tree. Partly because twigs and branches fall from it a lot. Partly because the females (it is dioecious) drop an astronomical amount of seeds. Also, there is a bug, the Boxelder Bug that eats the seeds. If you have a female Boxelder at your house, you will have Boxelder Bugs IN your house. But, there are cultivars worth considering. 'Flamingo' is a varigated form. Pink and green in the spring. By late summer, the pink has faded to white. One source tells me this is a female. Which means seeds. But, a more reliable source says it is a male. That is from Michael A. Dirr's 'Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.' What Dr. Dirr says is doctrine. But, he's not perfect. If you end up deciding on this 'Flamingo,' be sure it is a male. I don't know about the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) family. Dirr says that the following plants are subspecies of the Sugar Maple: Southern Sugar Maple (A. barbatum or floridanum) Rocky Mountain Maple (A. glabrum) Bigtooth Maple (A. grandidentatum) Chalkbark Maple (A. leucoderme) Boxelder (A. negundo) Black Maple (A nigrum) Red Maple (A. rubrum) Silver Maple (A. saccharinum) You said that the Red Maple is not doing well for your conditions. If you like the Red Maple, it is possible that it will graft with the Bigtooth. This way the Bigtooth will be the rootstock to handle your soil conditions. While you have a top that you enjoy. Now, I don't know that the graft will take. But, it is reasonable to assume considering that they are both subspecies of the same species. This is exactly what I am doing my research project for my Masters on. If it works for you, please let me know. If it's something you are interested in but not sure how to do it, let me know. I'd love to see how this will work out in Texas! I have a book that our school put out that lists plants that do well in alkaline conditions. If you are looking for plants other than Maples, let me know. Last thing. Have you heard of the Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)? If so, how does it do in your soil? Thanks.