# Can you identify this Maple tree by its leaves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129 "2011-11-26T05:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/1 "2011-11-26T05:45:17Z")
I have this small Maple tree in our front yard and am considering replacing it with a Kwanzan or a Yoshino Cherry tree. I want to get rid of this Maple because I highly suspect it’s a Silver Maple which I have read numerous bad things about (seeds, shallow roots, weak limbs, etc). I’ve heard better things about Sugar Maples and would consider transplanting to my back yard if it’s a Sugar Maple, but I’m on a 0.25 acre corner lot so I may consider transplanting somewhere random in the wild or giving to a relative. But first - can anyone tell me what kind of Maple tree this is? Please ignore the baby - it was a joke picture taken this past summer. The tree currently has no leaves (zone 7) and has gray/silver colored bark. [http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8456/dsc4126j.jpg](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/638/dsc4126j.jpg/) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/2 "2011-11-26T12:11:33Z")
It could be a silver Maple,and as you state they are a weed tree,they grow fast, can get to 20 feet in 5 years,We have many in our yard and I would like to have them all cut down,but that is expensive and 4 of the trees are over 100 years old, however they drop their seeds and the seeds grow so fast and are a mess. You may take a branch or twig to a place that sells trees and they would tell you if it is a sugar maple or what kind it is. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/3 "2011-11-26T14:05:43Z")
Thanks monavis. I will take a branch off to the nursery, but I’m really erring on the side of cut it down and plant something known if I have any doubt at all. Since my neighborhood is still being built, I may walk around and see if I can find another tree with the same tag (or ask the sales agent). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/4 "2011-11-26T14:16:27Z")
Eh, it’s doesn’t look like silver maple at all to me. Could it be an [Amur](http://www.meridian.k12.il.us/Middle%20School/student_work/megan_native_%20trees/Amur_maple.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/5 "2011-11-26T15:52:41Z")
Silver maples don’t have red leaf stems. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/6 "2011-11-26T16:04:13Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Eh, it’s doesn’t look like silver maple at all to me. Could it be an [Amur](http://www.meridian.k12.il.us/Middle%20School/student_work/megan_native_%20trees/Amur_maple.html)? The leaf really does resemble that. > [@Twoflower](#): > > Silver maples don’t have red leaf stems. Interestingly, I am noticing it’s not just the leaf stems that are red, but it appears as if all the new growth is red and the trunk is gray/silver. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/7 "2011-11-26T16:44:14Z")
I have a silver in my front yard, the leaves do not look like that. They are smaller and more feathery. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/8 "2011-11-26T16:45:50Z")
It doesn’t look like a silver maple from that shot. No young silver maple that I’ve spied has ever had leaves that look like that. And it’s hard to tell, but are the undersides of the leaves especially silvery? If not, I would definitely consider a different species. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/9 "2011-11-26T19:07:49Z")
Think it could be an Autumn Blaze? > **[Autumn Blaze Maple - Acer freemanii 'Jeffsred' - PNW Plants](http://pnwplants.wsu.edu/PlantDisplay.aspx?PlantID=215)** > > PLANT, pnwplant, pnwplants, plant, images, northwest The Autumn Blaze is a hybrid Red Maple and Silver Maple. This could explain why (I think) it was labeled a “Silver Maple.” To me the leaves here look almost identical except for color (obviously). Our tree is only 9ft high and was still suffering transplant shock this summer so we never saw the leaves turn this color. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/10 "2011-11-26T19:09:14Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > It doesn’t look like a silver maple from that shot. No young silver maple that I’ve spied has ever had leaves that look like that. And it’s hard to tell, but are the undersides of the leaves especially silvery? If not, I would definitely consider a different species. I don’t recall the undersides being especially silvery, but this tree was transplanted by our builder in maybe May so we never got a ton of leaves and most fall off before really changing color. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maple-tree-by-its-leaves/604129/11 "2011-11-26T23:15:07Z")
The undersides of silver maple leaves are silvery in the _summer_, when leaves are green, not in the fall. It’s not something they change to; it’s their normal state. Honestly, my first thought on seeing the title of this thread was “probably not unless it’s a silver maple; they’re pretty distinctive”.