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.