Click on the images help you identify a mountain maple.
Form
A small tree reaching a height of up to 20 feet, sometimes even 25 to 30 feet with a trunk diameter of 6 to 8 inches. Short trunk supports an irregular crown of small upright branches. Trunks often occur in dense, shrubby clumps.
Bark
Thin, reddish-brown, smooth or slightly furrowed.
Leaf
Simple, opposite on stem, length 2 1/2 to 4 inches; three-lobed or partially five-lobed, sometimes slightly heart-shaped at the base; gradually narrowed, pointed lobes are coarsely and sharply toothed. Color is light green turning to deep red or orange in the autumn.
Fruit (seed)
Samara about 3/4 to 1 inch long occurring in double-winged, u-shaped pairs.
Range
Northeastern and east-central Minnesota; shade-tolerant, slow-growing.
Wood uses
Light, soft, close-grained; thick, lighter-colored sapwood. Occasionally cultivated as an ornamental.