WHERE’S WILDLIFE • TREE & SHRUB FIELD GUIDE

Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum

Pronounced (approximate): AY-ser sak-AR-um

A familiar native woodland tree with five-lobed leaves and brilliant fall color. Compare its rounded leaf sinuses with the deeper cuts of Silver Maple.

Sugar Maple: select the photograph for a closer look.

NATIVE • NORTH AMERICA

At a glance

Family: Sapindaceae
Growth form: Deciduous tree
Habitat: Rich, well-drained woods
Seasonal interest: Spring flowers and autumn foliage

Sightings map

Explore reported observations. Sightings are not a complete range map.

How to recognize it

Key identification clues

Opposite leaves usually have five pointed lobes.
Rounded sinuses separate lobes; margins have relatively few teeth.
Small pale flowers hang in clusters in spring.

Where and when to look

Look in rich woods. Leaf shape is useful through the growing season; autumn brings yellow, orange and red tones.

Compare similar plants

Norway Maple can resemble Sugar Maple. Use buds, fruits and leaf-stalk sap along with leaf shape; autumn color alone is not diagnostic.

A closer look

Bark & branches

The bark photographs show relatively smooth young trunks and more deeply ridged older bark. These trees were identified as Sugar Maple by the photographer. Bark varies with age; check leaves, buds and twigs when identifying an unfamiliar tree.

Leaves & flowers

The gallery shows green leaves, hanging flowers and autumn color. Rounded gaps between lobes are a useful starting point.

Leaf galls

Two photographs show spindle-shaped growths on leaves. These are galls; the organism responsible has not been identified here.

Field photographs

15 field photographs showing leaves, flowers, leaf galls and bark. Select a photograph to enlarge it and browse the slideshow; use Load more photos to reveal the rest.

A green Sugar Maple leaf showing pointed lobes, rounded sinuses and mostly smooth margins.

Pale yellow Sugar Maple flowers hanging on slender stalks beside a tree trunk.

Slender spindle-shaped galls projecting from a Sugar Maple leaf.

Sugar Maple foliage with spindle-shaped leaf galls in a woodland understory.

Sugar Maple leaves turning orange and yellow in autumn.

A leafy Sugar Maple branch displaying yellow and orange autumn colors.

A yellow Sugar Maple leaf showing rounded sinuses and sparse marginal teeth.

Yellow Sugar Maple leaves on a woodland branch.

A young Sugar Maple trunk with smooth bark and patches of exposed wood.

Sugar Maple trunk with relatively smooth gray bark in a woodland.

Sugar Maple trunk showing ridged, furrowed bark in a woodland.

Green Ash trunk on the left and Sugar Maple trunk on the right at Martin’s Woods, Wisconsin. — Green Ash (left) and Sugar Maple (right) at Martin’s Woods, Wisconsin.

Range & sightings

Native to eastern North America, including the Midwest.

Explore related content

Woodlands · Plant identification help

Photographed at Martin’s Woods: explore the location and its woodland habitats.

Sources & further reading

Field photographs: Where’s Wildlife.

The Morton Arboretum: Sugar Maple · UW–Madison Extension: Tree Identification

Comments & Identification Feedback

Spotted a possible identification error or have an observation to share? Leave a comment below. For an ID correction, include the photo filename and the features that support your suggestion.

Sugar Maple