My Maple Trees Look Nothing Like the Identification Examples???

[wisnoskij]

Hello All,

I am finding identification guides little to no help.

I definitely have a bunch of trees that seem easy to identify as Sugar Maple. I also have seen a couple Black Maple, and even more somewhere inbetween but their is little point in differentiating black from sugar.

My problem is that all (every single one) of the trees that I suspect might possibly be red maples, mostly by the size of their leaves, look nothing like red maple leaves. I will not go into detail because the most descriptive thing I can say is very simple, they look exactly half way between a sugar and a red.

Are Red-Sugar hybrids a thing? Is their some characteristic that is binary and guarantees a correct identification? Should I just assume that all small leafed maples are Red Maple (even when they have tiny versions of sugar maple leaves)?


TL;DR: I have read books and browsed articles online. Still unsure if I have hundreds or 0 Red Maples Trees on my property. Every day I change my mind.

[maple flats]

show us some pictures of the leaf, the bark and the whole tree and you will get the help you need. How far north in Ontario are you? How well drained is the land? To your knowledge are the trees in question all native?

[fred]

AT OSU THERE ARE HYBRID TREES THEY ARE TAPPING AND RESEARCHING. THEY HAVE TAKEN PLUGS FOR DNA TESTING AND TESTING SAP. HERE IS KATHY SMITH'S EMAIL smith.81@osu.edu. SHE CAN GIVE YOU INSIGHT

[Galena]

Maybe you have some naturally occurring hybrids? That's how the Freeman maple came about, they were originally a wild natural hybrid between a red and a silver. They are a popular yard tree in my area.

[wisnoskij]

OK, back and with pictures. Most of them did not turn out so well. But I have one that did and now that I know Freeman maples exist makes far more sense.

I am pretty sure that is what at least some of these inbetween looking trees are. Take a look at this.

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South Ontario (London Area)
Lots of clay, so not great, but the trees outside of the woodlot are all on ridges, so they are pretty well drained.
The trees out of the woodlot are all on fence lines and surrounding the driveway. They are straight enough that I would suspect they were planted and they do not match the varieties I am seeing in the woodlot. So good chance that they were bought in (but we are talking around 100 years ago).

[Super Sapper]

I would guess silver or Freeman (Autumn Blaze here). The silver leaves turn yellow and the Autumn Blaze turn bright red.

[maple flats]

Looks like a Freeman Maple, but I can't tell you which. It seems there are 7 or more variations all called a Freeman Maple. Maybe this link will help: www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/freemans-maple

[Galena]

From what I know of Freemans, they have only officially been around and cultivated for about 40-50 yrs. I'll get some shots of my neighbour's Freemans. Generally the trunks look like a red but the limbs silver. I personally think it's a big red that you have.

[wisnoskij]

So Reds can have extra lobes? That seems to be my problem, I cannot find any tree identification resources that contain more than a single picture of 1 leaf, I have very little idea of what range is possible within a species.

[berkshires]

Just from looking around online, it sure looks like a Freemans to me. Here's a pic. Middle one looks just like yours to me: https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/sites/plantid7/files/plantimage/ac-sfr2.jpg