Red Maple

Red Maple - Acer rubrum L.

Leaf:

	The leaves of the red maple are opposite. They are simple with blades reaching six inches in length.
	The leaves are broad and have three to five lobes.
	The edges of the leaves are sharply toothed to just about toothless.
	The leaves are pale green and smooth on the upper surface, and white or gray and either smooth or hairy on the lower surface.
	The petiole (leafstalk) is smooth or finely hairy, reaching four inches in length.

Stem:

	The stem is slender, mostly smooth, and is more or less reddish, usually with pale lenticels.
	The leaf scars are opposite, u-shaped, with three to seven bundle traces.

Bark:

The bark is gray and smooth when young, becoming darker and scaly.

Flower:

	The male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are on different trees, but sometimes on the same tree.
	The flowers are in thick clusters.
	They are bright red or yellow, opening in February and March before the leaves begin to open up.

Seeds:

	They come in pairs, composed of an erect wing with a seed at the base.
	They are red or yellow in color, and can grow up to one inch long.

Form:

	The tree is medium and is up to 70 feet tall.
	The diameter is up to three feet and is crown oval or rounded.

Distribution:

	This is one of the most extensively dispersed trees in eastern North America.
	Its range extends from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois; south through Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Texas; and east to southern Florida.
	It is clearly not present in the bottomland forests of the Corn Belt in the Prairie Peninsula of the Midwest, the coastal prairies of southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, and the swamp prairie of the Florida everglades.
	It is refined in Hawaii.

Discussion:

It is used for furniture and gun-stocks.

Location:

Cumberland High School, 1496 IL route 121, Toledo IL 62468

GPS Coordinates:

Reference:

	MSN Maps and Directions. 28 Oct. 2004 <www.mapblast.com>.
	Distribution and Occurrence. 25 Oct. 2004 <http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/acerub/distribution_and_occurrence.html>.
	Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. 8th ed. Springfield: Illinois Department of Natural Resources, nd.