How to Identify Different Maple Trees

Maples feature seeds called samaras, which resemble a pair of wings.

Of the more than 125 types of maple trees that exist around the globe, 13 occur in North America. Identifying the maples is possible through keen observation of features such as the branching, leaf shape and size, colors of the foliage, and height of the tree. Taking note of where you find a maple, the part of the continent you are in, and aspects of the maple like its seeds and the color and texture of its bark will aid you in this pursuit.

Instructions

1. Note that maples have what botanists refer to as opposite branching. This means that the limbs will typically grow out across from each other as the maple develops. Maples, as well as ashes, horse chestnuts and dogwoods, display opposite branching. Maples also have seeds called samaras, which, due to their wing-like shape and how they attach to each other in pairs, helicopter down to the ground in the wind.

2. Distinguish maple species from the height of the different kinds of trees. The tallest of maples grow in the range of 100 feet high and include the bigleaf, sugar and black maples. The smallest maples -- the chalk, striped, vine and mountain maples -- are considerably shorter, with maximum growth of 25 to 40 feet. Other maples are medium-sized trees, such as silver maples, red maples, Florida maples and the boxelder.

3. 

   The number of lobes on the leaf can give away a maple's identity.

   Observe the leaves of maples and ascertain their shapes and sizes to tell maples apart. Sugar maple, for instance, has three or five-lobed foliage that can be as lengthy as 5.5 inches. Silver maple leaves have five lobes, with very deep indentations between each lobe. Bigtooth maple leaves have obvious teeth on the lobes and measure 3 to 5 inches across. Boxelder is the rare maple with compound leaves, with from three to seven toothed leaflets on a single stem comprising an individual leaf.

4. Note the colors of the maple leaves in the fall. Certain maples, like silver maple and striped maples, change from their green shades to a limited range of colors, with silver and striped maple turning yellow in autumn. Other maples, like red maple and sugar maple, can have leaves that turn an array of hues on the same tree, such as yellow, orange and scarlet.

5. Inspect the habitat in which you find a maple species. The type of ground that the maple grows in can give you valuable clues to its identify. For example, boxelder is common in waste places and along roadsides, while black maple prefers the damp soils of uplands and river valleys. Remember that some maples have a wide range, like the red maple, which exists in much of the eastern United States. Others grow only in a small portion of the nation, like the bigleaf maple of Pacific Northwest states.

6. Discern maples from each other by looking for outstanding features such as their bark or their shape. The bark of the chalk maple gives the tree its name with its whitish color. The vine maple is capable of being a small tree, but more often than not exists in the form of a multi-stemmed large shrub.

References

• University of Minnesota Extension: Minnesota Maple Series
• "Trees of North America"; C. Frank Brockman; 1996
• "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees"; Elbert L. Little; 2008