CautionEdible
Red maple
Acer rubrum
V-shaped leaf sinuses, red buds and twigs. Sap is thinner than sugar maple.
- Marks
- V sinuses; red twigs
- Size
- 40–70 ft
- Habitat
- Bottomlands and mixed woods.
- Season
- Red flowers March.
- Frequency
- abundant
Leaves with serrated edges and V sinuses. Red flowers before leaves. Often in wetter ground than sugar maple.
Uses
Syrup (lower sugar). Firewood.
If this is the one
Wilted red-maple leaves can poison horses. Keep horses off downed branches.
Lookalikes
Sugar maple
Acer saccharum
Five-lobed leaf, sharp brown buds, the tap tree of a Dearborn winter.
Low riskEdible