Red Maple

Red Maple     (Swamp Maple, Soft Maple)     Acer rubrum L.

Mature Size: Up to 90 feet in height, 21⁄2 feet in diameter

Form: Medium-sized tree with rounded crown in the open, narrow crown in the forest

Where to Find Them: Wide variety of sites, from dry ridges to swamps.  

Leaves: Opposite, simple, 2 to 6 inches long, with 3 to 5 lobes and coarsely toothed edges, green above and whitish below; leaf stem often red; leaves turn brilliant scarlet, orange or yellow in fall.

Fruit: Paired, winged, reddish and V-shaped, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 inch long, on long drooping stems; ripening in late spring and early summer; spinning as they fall.

Wildlife Use:The fruit and buds are a primary food source for gray squirrels in late winter and early spring. Birds and mice eat the seeds, and deer browse the young sprouts.

Bark: Bark on young trunks is smooth and light gray; older trunks are darker gray and separated by vertical ridges into large, plate-like scales.