Description of Plant

Leaf: 4-6 inches in length and nearly as wide. The leaves are doubly saw-toothed with 5 main veins coming from the base. Dull green above turning, turning pale yellow in the autumn. They are broadly ovate, deeply lobed and long pointed. The middle lobe is often 3 lobed.

Flower: 6mm in length with greenish-yellow flowers crowded in nearly stalk-less clusters. Male and female are in separate clusters, they appear in the late winter or very early spring before leaves.

Fruit: 1-seeded and matures in the spring. The fruit is 4-6 cm in length including the long broad wing. The wings are widely forked and paired.

Twig: Have a slightly unpleasant odor when crushed and are light green to brown in color. They are long, spreading and often slightly spreading.

Bark: Gray and becomes deeply furrowed into long scaly shaggy ridges.

Form: A large tree with a short, stout trunk and a few large forks that spread into an irregular crown of long curving branches and graceful cut leaves.

Description of the Plant

The Silver Maple is a popular shade tree but its form is not pleasing because the branches are quite brittle and easily broken during windstorms. The abundant fruit of this tree can also create a litter problem. Although it is possible to obtain sugar from the sap the yield is very low.

Copyright

© Sue Grabowski, Gail Slowinski, Carl Schurz High School 2003

References

Coombes, Allen, J, Smithsonian Handbook of Trees, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2002.

Little, Elbert, L., Field Guide to Trees, Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1980.

Symonds, George, W.D., The Tree Identification Book, Quill Publishing, New York, N.Y. 1958.