Field Guide: Trees and Shrubs

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Silver Maple

 

 

 

 

 

 

You found Silver maple (Acer saccharinum).

 

 

 

 

 

This is a large tree that grows 40 to 70 feet tall (7).  The leaves are opposite, simple and have 5 lobes.  The margins are doubly toothed.  The leaves are colored dark green above and silvery white beneath (5).  The leaves turn pale yellow in autumn. The fruit is a samara with widely divergent wings that matures in the spring (12).  The bark is gray with ridges.  This tree grows rapidly and provides a great deal of shade (6).