Maple Identification Help please...

[Johnathan]

Pulled this out of someone's landscape. They say it was grown from seed many years ago. I asked what kind of maple, and the lady replied, "the beautiful kind"... so with that I dug it up and took it home.

Can someone please help me. Here are a few pictures.











I hope these pics show enough. Thanks in advance

 

[Forsoothe!]

Grown from seed as in a volunteer in the landscape?

 

[Johnathan]

Grown from seed as in a volunteer in the landscape?

I believe it was deliberately planted there years ago.

 

[Forsoothe!]

This is a Silver Maple...

The margins are different, and I don't know how much variation in local families exist, so someone else needs to guess.

 

[Johnathan]

I showed it to a local buddy of mine. He has an amur maple, and the leaves look identical.

 

[penumbra]

I showed it to a local buddy of mine. He has an amur maple, and the leaves look identical.

Perhaps, but it looks nothing like my Amur. Looks like a silver but could be a Sugar.

 

[Enfield Snapper]

Perhaps, but it looks nothing like my Amur. Looks like a silver but could be a Sugar.

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

 

[Coppersdad]

I carry "Plant Snap", "Plant Net", "What's That Plant" and "ID Weeds" on my phone. "Plant Snap" has been a go-to app for me. The database has grown over the past few years and it really is helpful in the field and away from reference books.
And yes, I carry "ID Weeds" because it's MY go-app whenever I'm working around my own trees.

 

[Johnathan]

Thank you everyone. Another question, I basically cut the trunk in half for transportation purposes.

I really want to clean up the look a bit. Eliminate that 3rd little trunk. Possibly hopefully even chop the trunk again...

I know I probably should've just chopped it lower at collection.... but anyways,, would you guys chop it again now or wait until it's recovered?

 

[Dav4]

The first thought through my mind after seeing those pictures was silver maple.

 

[just.wing.it]

Looks silvery to me dude!

 

[Johnathan]

Roger that. I think there is a consensus. From this day forward, this shall be a Silver Maple.

Do you guys think its to late to chop those trunks?

 

[Forsoothe!]

I think you should wait until this critter evolves into it's summer fur, just in case it's something nicer than a Silver and you want to air layer off the parts you don't want on the mother tree. The bark is the wrong color, too. Maybe this is a tree worth seeding, and maybe not.

 

[AJL]

Has anyone successfully bonsaid silver maple or sugar maple, assuming thats what it is?

 

[ajm55555]

I showed it to a local buddy of mine. He has an amur maple, and the leaves look identical.

Probably your buddy has a silver maple too ;-)

 

[penumbra]

Has anyone successfully bonsaid silver maple or sugar maple, assuming thats what it is?

I wouldn't even consider it and I consider a lot of things others wouldn't.
Sugar I would plant in my yard. Silver I would plant in someone else's yard.

 

[Dav4]

I wouldn't even consider it and I consider a lot of things others wouldn't.
Sugar I would plant in my yard. Silver I would plant in someone else's yard.

Exactly!!

 

[just.wing.it]

I wouldn't even consider it and I consider a lot of things others wouldn't.
Sugar I would plant in my yard. Silver I would plant in someone else's yard.

Some of the biggest and oldest trees around my area are Silver Maple clumps.....they just get massive! Trunks 10 feet thick.....3 ton limbs breaking off occasionally smashing a car or sunroom. Pretty trees I think.

 

[penumbra]

Some of the biggest and oldest trees around my area are Silver Maple clumps.....they just get massive! Trunks 10 feet thick.....3 ton limbs breaking off occasionally smashing a car or sunroom. Pretty trees I think.

I have seen some large silver maples but nothing like what you are describing. They were the home builders tree of choice in my area during the late 50s through 1960s because they were cheap, transplanted at near 100% success rate and grew exceptionally fast. The leaves are stunning and fall color is a clear yellow that comes and goes almost as quickly as ginkgo. After a few years they started raising and cracking driveways, sidewalks and in many cases they cracked foundations and ruined water pipes. Then the fun began when they started falling apart with wind and with snow load. They are exceptionally brittle and the destruction they caused was widespread and serious. Several lawsuits ensued. They went from being one of the most widely plant trees to becoming a tree that can hardly be found at any nursery today. They really have not been used as a landscape tree in most areas in decades and have become known as a trash tree. Many urban municipalities have banned them.
As a wild tree (and as another life form) I hold nothing against silver maples, but as a landscape tree they are one of the poorest of all choices.

 

[Dav4]

I have seen some large silver maples but nothing like what you are describing. They were the home builders tree of choice in my area during the late 50s through 1960s because they were cheap, transplanted at near 100% success rate and grew exceptionally fast. The leaves are stunning and fall color is a clear yellow that comes and goes almost as quickly as ginkgo. After a few years they started raising and cracking driveways, sidewalks and in many cases they cracked foundations and ruined water pipes. Then the fun began when they started falling apart with wind and with snow load. They are exceptionally brittle and the destruction they caused was widespread and serious. Several lawsuits ensued. They went from being one of the most widely plant trees to becoming a tree that can hardly be found at any nursery today. They really have not been used as a landscape tree in most areas in decades and have become known as a trash tree. Many urban municipalities have banned them.
As a wild tree (and as another life form) I hold nothing against silver maples, but as a landscape tree they are one of the poorest of all choices.

Except on a golf course or park... They need room to stretch.