Description

Leaves: Opposite; simple; about 4" to 7" wide and long; deciduous; deeply, palmately 5-lobed; coarsely serrate margins; green and glabrous on upper surface; silver-white beneath; turn pale yellow in fall; petiole 3" to 5" long.

Twigs/buds: Twigs slender; orange-brown to red; disagreeable odor when bruised.  Buds rounded, red to reddish-brown, 1/8" to 1/4" long, clustered.

Flowers/fruit: Flowers dioecious (some are perfect); red to yellow-green and fairly showy because they appear very early, before the leaves.  Fruit a samara; 2 widely spread wings, about 1-1/2" long; mature in late spring and germinate immediately.

Bark: Smooth and silver-gray on young stems; later breaking into long, thin, scaly plates that curl away from the tree at the ends.

Wood: Moderately important; sapwood white; heartwood light brown; growth rings not very distinct; diffuse-porous; used as a substitute for sugar maple in flooring, furniture, boxes, pallets, crates, and novelties.

General: Native to most of the eastern U.S. on moist, bottomland sites.  Intermediate shade tolerance. Rarely should be planted; iron chlorosis and weak wood.

Landscape Use: A large tree that grows rapidly, but is brittle and breaks easily in storms.  In the West it also tends towards iron chlorosis because of high soil pH, though the chlorosis must be extreme before it has much effect on the tree.  Should be planted only where there's plenty of room and where soil pH isn't very high.  Not a good choice for Utah.  Zones 3-9.

Cultivars: 'Blair', 'Borns Graciosa', 'Elegant', 'Laciniatum', 'Lochstead', 'Lutescens', 'Northline', 'Pyramidale', 'Silver Cloud', 'Skinner', 'Wieri'.

Characteristics