How to Identify a Red Maple Tree
The red maple tree (or Acer rubrum) is also known as a scarlet maple, swamp maple or soft maple. The wood of a red maple is soft and may be used to build some types of furniture, clothes hangers, box veneer, interior finish, baskets and crates, mine props and railroad ties. It can also be used as fuel. The red maple is most easily recognized in the fall by its red leaves.
The red maple grows throughout the North American East Coast from Newfoundland and the southeast regions of Manitoba to southern Florida to Texas, according to the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation.
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Instructions
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Check the area. Red maples trees grow in altitudes up to 6,000 feet. Red maples grow in wet or moist soils on riverbanks and in swamps. They may also be found in uplands, along dry ridges, forests and fields. Red maples are usually one of the first to take over a field and often grow beneath larger trees.
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Check for the tree's outstanding features. Red maples are deciduous trees, meaning they lose their leaves in the fall. Red maples experience moderate to rapid growth. Red maples are generally medium sized. They range in height from 40 to 60 feet although some grow to 90 feet tall. A young red maple has a pyramidal form. A mature red maple has ascending branches with an irregular narrow or rounded crown.
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Check the bark. A young red maple tree has a thin, smooth bark that is light gray in color. As it matures, a red maple's bark will darken and roughen into long ridges, and may become scaly. The bark on a medium sized red maple often has a pattern of concentric rings.
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Check the twigs. Red maple twigs are rather slender, bright or dark red in color and emit no odor when cut or broken. In the spring, the twigs are shiny red.
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Check the leaves. Red maple trees are classified as "opposite." The leaf buds on a red maple grow in pairs on opposite sides of the twig--rather than alternating in a step pattern along the twig. Red maple leaves are "simple;" they have an undivided blade. Red maple leaves are palmately-lobed; this means that the leaf is divided like the fingers of a hand. Red maple leaves are usually three to four inches long. The leaves have three to five pointed lobes and are edged with small, regular and numerous "teeth." The clefts between the lobes are shallow and sharp angled. The leaves are dull green in color on the top side and a pale, greenish white below. The leaves turn brilliant reds, oranges and yellows in the fall.
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Check the flowers. Small, red flowers appear before the fruit does in late winter to early spring. The flowers are reddish-orange and droop in dense clusters.
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Check the fruit. Red maples have fruit called samara. The fruit consists of a pair of winged seeds that are red, pink or yellow. The fruit forms in clusters on long stalks. The seeds are joined end on end and are often reddish. The fruit ripens in early spring.
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