Sugar Maple

• This is the tree most people think of first when they imagine a maple. It is tapped for its sap in the late winter/early spring. The metal buckets give it away.
• The leaves of this tree are 5 pointed, and smooth between the points of the lobes, making a "u" shape. The leaves are easily confused with Norway maples, but lacks the white sticky sap you find when you break off a Norway maple leaf.
• The bark of sugar maples is light grey in color. It is rough, and almost "warty" compared with that of red maples. Mature sugar maple bark often forms large, thick plates.
• The buds form small, light brown cones, like "sugar cones".

Learn more about the Sugar Maple.

Red Maple

• Red maple leaves have "v" shaped sinuses, or spaces between the points of the lobes. The leaves are toothed, have jagged edges.
• The twigs and buds of red maples are--you guessed it--red. In the early spring, when the flowers bloom, the trees take on a reddish blush. You can pick them out in the landscape by this coloration.
• The bark of young red maples is clear, light grey and very smooth. The bark of mature red maples varies greatly, but distinguished by vertical breaks in the bark. Characteristic patterns include: ragged, flaky bark, and beautifully patterned curved but sharp breaks in the bark that resemble gills, or the break-up pattern of dried clay.

Silver Maple

• Silver maple leaves have deep v-shaped division between the lobes. The leaf edges are quite notched or toothed.
• These trees are often found with multiple stems. This may indicate that they sprouted from a single stem that was cut back to the ground.
• Silver Maple love moist soils, and are often found growing wild near rivers and streams. They were popular trees to plant by city streets at one time, although less so now, since they tend to drop limbs.