Field maple produces the hardest, high-density timber of all European maples. It's a warm, creamy-brown colour with a silky shine and traditional uses include wood-turning and carving. Its wood is also popular for making musical instruments, particularly harps. Medieval superstition said that if you passed a maple branch over a child, it would remove all traces of witchcraft and in parts of Europe it was thought that maple branches hung around a doorway stopped bats from entering.

Maples are attractive to aphids and their predators including many species of ladybird, hoverfly and bird. Moths feed on the leaves and the flowers provide nectar and pollen sources for birds and bees.