Striped Maple

 Acer pensylvanicum

Identification Information

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021

Time: 5:10 p.m.

Location:  Hunsicker’s Grove (9350 Longswamp Road, Mertztown, PA 19539)

Habitat:  Temperate Mixed Forest, dominated by Hickory-Oak

Weather conditions:  75 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly humid, cloudy skies

There was a fight about this tree.    

I immediately jumped to sugar maple.  I could see the leaf shape from a distance, and at quick glance I saw five lobes.  The trunk looked right (smooth, but starting to form scaly ridges).  It was more than 20 feet tall with a long trunk before branches started.

... but he is the one who had the book.

And he was looking closely at these leaves while I was declaring the wrong tree.

Striped Maples are somewhat unique in their leaf shape.  The toothed leaves have a heart-shaped base and three fairly shallow lobes.  Once he pointed those out, I knew I had lost.

(Brockman, 1986, p. 214).

The Striped Maple is a shade tree, which is perfect because it does not grow to be terribly tall.  In this woods, it was shaded by a few giant oaks.

Don't worry.  We still love each other.