Sugar maples can be identified by their distinct leaves, bark, twigs, and by their small fruit. Look closely at the color of the leaves. Sugar maple leaves will have a dark green color on the outside, and a lighter green on the underside. In the fall, sugar maple leaves will lose their green color and take on a beautiful orange, yellow, or red.

Identifying a tree as a sugar or black maple (Table 3.2, Figure 3.2 & 3.3) is easily done from the leaves by observing 5-lobed leaves, the paired opposite attachment of the leaves along the stem and the lack of teeth along the leaf margin; from the bark of older trees by observing the long plates that remain attached on one side; from the twigs by observing the opposite arrangement of buds and the relatively long, pointed,...