Note that I’m mainly comparing Sugar Maple to other species of Maple. This can be important, as it is difficult to differentiate certain species. The following trees will have their own identification guides showing/describing the primary features with pictures.Īfter reviewing these trees, we will have some side by side comparisons. Identification of individual Maple Species ( Acer genus) At the end of each individual section is a black ‘Back to top’ button that will return you to the table of contents. It will help you differentiate the leaves, bark, flower, and seed of all common Maple species native to North America, as well as some non-natives that are now invasive or frequently used in landscaping.īelow is an outline of this article. This guide is to help you identify all major species of Maple Trees in North America, with a focus on those Maples native to the Eastern half.

Also, all images should be directly linked to the media file for higher resolution. From these large infographics, you can identify the likely candidates of your tree, and then jump to the more detailed species descriptions. I will include comparisons of the leaves and bark for most major Maple species native to Eastern North America, as well as a couple non-native species that are either invasive or frequently encountered. So, I created this guide to help you identify the most common Maple Trees in North America. Red Maple tree (right) showing fall color. The bark, leaves, flowers, and winged seeds can all get confusing… On the left is invasive Norway Maple, which doesn’t change color (to yellow) until later. But many Maple Trees can look alike and be a challenge to identify.

In the wild there are around 15 native Maple species one may encounter depending on what part of the country you find yourself in. Maple Trees are one of the most popular and commonly used trees used for landscaping in the United States.

Different types of maple tree leaves