HABIT.—A small tree at best, more often a large shrub, seldom attaining a height of more than 30 feet, with a short trunk 5-8 inches through. The striped, upright branches form a rather compact crown.
LEAVES.—Opposite, simple, 5-6 inches long and nearly as broad; 3-lobed above the middle with short, tapering lobes; palmately 3-nerved; sharply doubly serrate; rounded or heart-shaped at the base; glabrous, yellow-green above, paler beneath, turning pale yellow in autumn; petioles stout, grooved.
FLOWERS.—May-June, when the leaves are nearly full grown; usually monoecious; large, bright yellow, bell-shaped, in slender, drooping racemes 4-6 inches long; calyx 5-parted; petals 5; stamens 7-8; ovary downy.
FRUIT.—Ripens in autumn; glabrous, paired samaras in long, drooping, racemose clusters, the wings 3/4 inch long, widely divergent, and marked on one side of each nutlet by a small cavity.
WINTER-BUDS.—Bright red; terminal bud nearly 1/2 inch long, short-stalked, with bud-scales keeled; lateral buds smaller, appressed.
BARK.—Twigs light green, mottled with black, smooth; trunk and branches red-brown, marked longitudinally by broad, pale stripes.
WOOD.—Light, soft, close-grained, pinkish brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Abundant in the Upper Peninsula, extending southward as far as Roscommon County in the Lower Peninsula.
HABITAT.—Cool, rocky or sandy woods, usually in the shade of other trees.
NOTES.—In the Northwoods the green shoots are browsed by deer and moose. Valued mostly for its aesthetic qualities. Of little or no economic value.