Red Maple
Red buds, flowers, leaf stalks, and paired winged seeds recur across the year on Rhode Island’s adaptable state tree.
Artwork inspired by Edward Mitchell Bannister
Red maple tolerates swampy ground, dry ridges, disturbed edges, and urban soils, though form and vigor change with the site. Leaves usually have three to five shallow lobes with toothed margins; twigs carry opposite buds, and samaras mature in spring rather than hanging into autumn.
The name describes multiple red features across the annual cycle, not a guarantee of scarlet fall color. Sugar maple leaves have smoother lobe edges and a different outline, while Norway maple leaks milky sap from broken leaf stalks. Use several traits and note the habitat before naming a street tree.
- Arrangement
- Opposite leaves and buds
- Seeds
- Paired samaras mature in spring
- Rhode Island link
- Official state tree
Quick guide
- Check the margin
- Red maple leaves are distinctly toothed.
- Look before leaf-out
- Red flower clusters can color wetlands in early spring.
Recognize and observe
- Check the margin
- Red maple leaves are distinctly toothed.
- Look before leaf-out
- Red flower clusters can color wetlands in early spring.
- Compare the petiole
- Broken Norway maple stalks show milky sap; red maple does not.
- Expect variation
- Fall color ranges from yellow to orange and scarlet.
Good to know
A red-looking autumn maple is not automatically red maple. Sugar, silver, Freeman, and introduced Norway maples can all produce confusing color.
Notice these
- Opposite leaves and buds
- Paired samaras mature in spring
- Official state tree