Red maple is a multi-seasonal tree that brightens your yard year-round. Its vibrant foliage, early spring flowers and distinctive red twigs and seeds make it both beautiful and ecologically valuable, supporting pollinators, birds and small mammals throughout the year.
Quick Facts
- Height: approximately 40 feet in urban settings
- Spread: approximately 30 feet in urban settings
- Form: rounded crown with spreading branches
- Leaves: simple, green above and whitish-green below, rounded, 3-5 shallow lobes with serrate edges that emerge in spring and turn pale yellow to vibrant scarlet red in fall
- Bark: smooth, silver-grey when young; scaly, dark grey when mature
- Flowers: small, bright red (occasionally yellow), attractive, hanging clusters; emerge in early spring before the leaves
- Fruit: small, green to light reddish-brown, clusters of two-winged, papery, horseshoe-shaped samaras (called keys) borne on long, slender stems; mature in late spring/early summer
Distinguishing Feature
Red maple’s vibrant red flowers, seeds, twigs, buds and fall foliage make it visually striking throughout the year, creating changing textures and colours in every season.
Historical Fact
Red maple is a pioneer species, often one of the first tree species to grow in disturbed areas, helping forests regenerate and shape woodland structure. It can also grow to impressive sizes, with some individuals reaching over 140 feet tall, making it one of the most striking native trees in eastern North America.
Why We Love It
With its brilliant red flowers, seeds, twigs, buds and fall foliage, the red maple is not only the ultimate Valentine’s tree but it also provides year-round colour and interest, making it a standout tree for any yard or community planting.
Did You Know?
Red maple is one of the most widespread native maples in eastern North America.
Its canopy provides shelter, while its flowers, seeds, buds and twigs offer year-round food for birds, small mammals and pollinators.
It can be tapped for its sap to make syrup, which is lighter and more delicate in flavor than the rich, robust taste of sugar maple syrup.
Plant Your Own!
Planting a red maple in your yard is a wonderful way to enhance the beauty of your property and provide habitat for native wildlife. Plant for less with LEAF’s subsidized Backyard Tree Planting Program today!
LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection and improvement of urban forests. They envision vibrant communities where everyone benefits from a healthy urban forest. For over 30 years they have been connecting people with trees through education, planting and stewardship.
