Striped maple

Leaves

Form

• Broadly triangular
• 3 shallow lobes on upper portion
• Lobes with long, fine tips pointing forward
• Hairless

Length

• 10–16 cm

Width

• Often wider than long

Colour

• Upper and lower surfaces pale yellowish-green

Autumn colour

• Yellow

Margin

• Uniformly double-toothed

Petiole

• 3–8 cm long

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud present, stalked
• Single pair of visible scales meet along their edges
• Hairless

Length

• About 10 mm
• Almost twice as long as wide

Twigs

Form

• Hairless, shiny
• Rather stout for a maple

Colour

• Reddish-brown or greenish

Flowers

Form

• Bell-shaped
• 5 petals and sepals
• Arranged along a central stem in drooping terminal clusters (racemes)

Width

• 6 mm

Colour

• Greenish-yellow

Structure

• Mostly dioecious
• Occasionally monoecious

Floral timing

• After the leaves are fully grown

Fruits

Form

• Somewhat divergent
• Angle between wings 90°
• Seedcase indented on one side
• Keys on short stalks
• In pendulous terminal clusters

Length

• Wings 25–30 mm

Structure

• Samara
• In joined pairs

Bark

Form

• Smooth

Colour

• Green or brownish-green when young
• After 1 or 2 years conspicuously marked by long, vertical whitish stripes
• Becoming greenish-brown with darkened stripes

Size

Height

• To 10 m 

Diameter

• To 25 cm 

Maximum age

• 100 years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Short
• Dividing into a few irregular, ascending, and arching branches

Crown

• Broad, uneven, flat-topped to rounded
• Upright branches often evenly forked

Root system

• Shallow, wide-spreading

Habitat

Site

• Well-drained cool moist soils in deep valleys and on northern slopes

Light tolerance

• Shade-tolerant

Range

Northern forests from Ontario east into the Maritime provinces