What do maple leaves look like

In the early spring the adults move to the developing, unfolding leaves and begin feeding. The leaf responds to the small irritation by rapidly producing extra cells that form the abnormal growth at the feeding site.

The gall encloses the mite which continues to feed and lay numerous eggs within the gall. Reproduction is prolific and as the new mites mature, they leave the gall and move to other newly emerging leaves to repeat the process.

Only new leaves are capable of producing galls. Mite activity continues until mid-summer when it starts to decline. Adult mites leave the foliage in the fall and move to the overwintering sites. Heavy infestations of galls cause leaves to be disfigured. At the worst, leaves become curled or rolled up, and may change color and drop prematurely. Presumably, red maples get their name either from the scarlet color they turn in the fall, the color of the winged seeds they produce in the springtime, or both.

The red maple leaf: three lobes, saw-tooth edges, turns red in fall. The sugar maple leaf: five lobes, smooth edges, turns a variety of colors in fall. And then there are the sugars. Sugar maples , so named because of the high concentration of sugar in their sap, grow even bigger than red maples, feet, and naturally occur in rich, moist soils in uplands and valleys.

In addition, however, sugar maples have been planted along roadways and at the edges of pasture lands for hundreds of years , and can still be found thus anywhere that farming is or ever was. Sign up for our newsletter and keep up to date on backyard maple, Sapling happenings, upcoming sales, and the Vermont Evaporator Company! September 15, Fall is a great time for you to make good on your goal of identifying some maples or some more maples for your DIY maple syrup making operation.

Did you know? As have been said, there are many types of maple trees. Some of them are more familiar than others but we just do not know the name. Some are rare but are remarkable specimen trees for any landscape or garden. To know more of them, here are some notable maple tree types that you should know of. This one is one of the smallest maple trees available. When grown as a shrub, it follows a multi-stem growth but as a small tree, expect for it to have a rounded and dense crown.

It also goes by the name of Siberian maple and is listed as a subspecies of Tatarian maple. Its native areas would be Siberia, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia. It grows to just 30ft with red and yellow leaf colors during fall. It develops drought tolerance once the roots are established.

As its name implies, it sure has large showy leaves. As a matter of fact, it has the largest leaves of all maple trees as they extend to inches wide and sometimes larger. It is also called the Oregon maple or the broadleaf maple. It is also identifiable for its large trunk and furrowed, reddish brown bark. Because of its large shade cover, it is planted extensively in national parks and streets.

It can grow to a maximum height of ft, loves full sun and can tolerate partial shade. It is hardy in zones and is tolerant to drought. The boxelder maple also goes by other names including the Manitoba maple or the ash-leaved maple.

It is a fast grower and sometimes becomes mature with multiple trunks. It can reach a height of 80ft, making it more of a shade tree than a specimen tree. The leaves are more like ivy leaves than maple leaves.

They have three lobes at youth and become lobeless at maturity. They are also serrated at the edges and turn yellow during fall. The Sango-kaku maple or coral bark maple is another ornamental cultivar of the Japanese maple.

It is considered as a four-season landscape shrub because of its yellow green leaves during spring, deeper green at summer, orange and golden yellow at fall, and leafless, glowing reddish-brown stems during winter and becomes a deeper red hue as winter progresses. They are great underlayer trees for landscapes as they grow at just ft especially in a contrast of evergreens.

It loves well-draining soils and thrives in full sun to partial shade. It loves moisture and grows at a moderate rate. This ornamental maple is known for its flashy deep purple foliage all through summer which transforms into golden yellow during fall. It is a hardy ornamental as it is both drought and frost-tolerant. As such, it is commonly found in large estates, national parks, and urban landscapes. Since it grows in between ft, it could also be planted as a shade tree. It has an upright growth habit, forming a dense, rounded crown.

It grows in zones , thrives well in full to partial sun and can tolerate different soil and climatic conditions. It also has the ability to withstand long winters. This one can be trained to grow like a shrub and be planted in urban landscapes due to its tolerance to different qualities of soil, temperature and air quality or can be grown as a large, deciduous tree with dense and rounded crown.

It grows in between ft in zones Shrub or tree, it has a beautiful foliage display during fall. Its lobed leaves turn from yellow green to bright orange or crimson red in autumn. It is also one of those few maple trees with soft textured barks and subtle furrows. This is the least picky maple tree when it comes to care requirements, making it a fit specimen tree for urban landscapes.

It tolerates all types of soils, can thrive in sun and shade, grows in polluted locations and is drought tolerant. And of course, as the name implies, it is a small to medium-sized shrub that is often used as hedging.

In the fall, the green leaves turn into fiery yellow. It grows in between ft and its native location would be across Europe and southwest Asia. It thrives in zones You would not believe that the hornbeam maple is a maple tree because it does not have the lobed, five-point leaf that the tree is known for.

It has elongated leaves that are completely lobeless. Because the tree itself resembles the hornbeam tree, this maple was named as such. Nonetheless, its yellow green leaves turn yellow at the first weeks of fall and then transform again into brownish gold as the season deepens.

It is a rare maple tree, but it still is a beautiful landscape specimen tree growing from ft. This one is a common landscape specimen tree. It has one of the maple tree types with the most cultivars. Very deeply-lobed leaves : The Japanese maple is known for very distinct lobing of the leaves, so much so that they almost appear to be compound leaves.

However, you will note all lobes of this leaf still originate from a single point on the leaf stock and have no stems of their own. There is some variation between cultivars of this tree, but most possess this feature to a greater or lesser degree. Large, 5-lobed leaf : Both the sugar maple and the Norway maple have this characteristic, with the sugar maple leaf having a few large teeth and rounded spaces between the lobes.

The easiest way to tell these species apart using the leaves is to break a leaf off the twig. A leaf from a Norway maple will yield a milky sap from the end of the leaf, while the sugar maple will not. Fuzzy : If your maple tree has a soft white coating on the underside of the leaf, it is almost certainly a silver maple.

Roughly toothed : The red maple has a slightly smaller leaf than most other species, with its most distinctive feature being a rough, saw-like edge.

If the leaf margin, or edge, of your maple's leaves appear serrated, it is probably a red maple. Distinctive Bark If you are trying to identify a maple tree during winter, the leaves can be a less reliable feature.

While at first you may think all bark looks the same, there are a few key traits associated with certain species that can aid in maple identification: Smooth, red and papery : The paperbark maple has been relatively uncommon until quite recently, but is gaining momentum as more people become familiar with this Chinese import. A compound leaf combined with striking, papery bark means you probably have one of these beauties.

Wide, irregular strips: The sugar maple has dark grayish-brown bark with wide, vertical strips that curl outward at the edges. Narrow, scaly ridges : Norway maple, box elder and red maple share this feature. Red maple's bark is normally dark brown, whereas box elder and Norway maple bark is more grayish.

Grayish, scaly, and flaky : Most likely a silver maple. Look to leaves for a positive identification. Hybrid Identification When you have a naturally-occurring maple species, identification is fairly straightforward.