Maple naturally tends to have a whitish tinge with some mineral streaks to give it some reddish-brown tints. With Maple, their mineral streaks darken with stain. However, overtime, the maple will darken with age from a white slab a maple to a honey-golden sheen all due to UV light and oxygen exposure. With this in mind, it's best to purchase pieces such as tables and benches altogether rather than to purchase separately because they will have a different shade to them.

Since Maple is naturally light, so it tends to stain better with lighter stains and has difficulty absorbing darker stains.

 

In general, the grain of maple is straight with fine, systematic texture. Maple has little to no Knotts. If any Knott is present, it generally does not show more than about the size of a Nickle.

 

The density and durability of wood is often measured by the Janka Test which is a steel ball pressing against a block of wood to measure the amount of force for the steel ball to go halfway through the block. 

As a matter of fact, the Industry Median Hardness of Wood is 1290 Janka, which is Red Oak. If you're questioning how sturdy Maple wood is, it has a Janka rating of 1450, making it popular amongst furniture makers.