Twigs: Slender, brown, smooth or hairy, usually with pale lenticels; leaf scars opposite, U-shaped, with 3-7 bundle traces.
Buds: Rounded, reddish-brown, hairy, up to ¼ inch long.
Leaves: Opposite, simple; blades up to 4 inches long, nearly as broad, palmately 3- to 5-lobed, drooping on the sides, the edges sparsely and coarsely toothed, green and smooth or a little hairy on the upper surface, paler and much hairier on the lower surface; leaf-stalks up to 3 inches long, very hairy. The leaves turn yellow or orange in the autumn.
Flowers: Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but sometimes on the same tree, in dense clusters, yellowish-green, appearing as the leaves unfold.
Fruit: Borne in pairs, composed of a wing with a seed at the base, greenish, up to 1 inch long.
Wood: Heavy, strong, coarse-grained, light brown.
Uses: Furniture, interior finishing, cabinets.
Habitat: Woodlands.
Range: Virginia across southern Illinois to southeastern Oklahoma, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The Southern Sugar Maple resembles the Black Maple because of its drooping leaves, but differs by its smaller, thicker leaves.