Mountain Maple Tree
The Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum, Lam.) is usually shrubby in habit; very rarely it reaches 30 feet in height, and a maximum trunk diameter of 6 to 8 inches. Its green bark is not striped, a character which at any season distinguishes it from the striped maple. The lobes of its leaves are taper pointed, and their margins coarsely saw-toothed. The petioles are long and slim and scarlet throughout the summer. The flowers are small, greenish yellow with long, narrow petals; they are clustered in racemes that stand erect in the axils of the fully-expanded leaves.
The fruits hang in clusters, the little samaras but slightly divergent, and showing clear red in the summer. In autumn they are brown, while the foliage takes on brilliant shades of yellow and scarlet. After the leaves fall the grey, downy twigs are bright with the winter buds only.