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