To recognize boxelder tree, check for opposite leaves that are compound, usually with 3 to 7 leaflets, a rare pattern in maples. Twigs are green to purplish and often have a whitish coating.
Mature trees often form an irregular, broad crown and commonly reach about 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) tall.
Take a photo and use Botan to confirm your plant identification.
Clear images work best. Avoid photos taken too close or too far away
Use these quick checks to assess Acer negundo by sight.
Paired samaras and opposite compound leaves are the fastest visual clues.
Acer negundo shows clear visual shifts from compound-leaved seedlings to broad, fruiting trees.
Several named forms of Acer negundo can be recognized by leaf color and growth habit.
In spring, Acer negundo leafs out with compound leaves, often as dangling clusters of small yellow-green flowers are visible before or with the new foliage. Female trees then develop hanging winged seed pairs that remain noticeable into late summer or fall. After leaf drop in fall, the tree is easier to recognize by its greenish to purplish young twigs and opposite branching, which stand out through winter.
A few trees are regularly mistaken for boxelder because they share compound leaves.
ash(Fraxinus spp.)
Ash can resemble it at a glance because both have opposite branching and compound leaves. Ash leaflets are usually more numerous, often 5-9, and the paired winged seeds are single paddles, not the joined V-shaped pairs seen on maples.
poison-ivy(Toxicodendron radicans)
Seedlings and vine-free juvenile shoots can confuse beginners because both may show 3 leaflets. Poison-ivy is usually a vine or low shrub, not a tree, and its leaves are alternate rather than opposite on the stem.
Acer negundo is native across much of North America, from southern Canada through most of the United States and into northern Mexico. It is most often found in floodplains, streambanks, lake edges, and other moist bottomlands. Seeing it in disturbed river corridors or low, seasonally wet ground can help separate it from many upland maples.
Quick Plant ID Check
Not sure what plant you have? Take a photo and identify it in the app
Use Botan to identify or verify the plant from a photo, helping avoid mix-ups with similar species.
Leaves are opposite, with one leaf attached directly across from another on the twig. That maple trait helps in boxelder tree identification, even though this species has compound leaves unlike most maples.
Identify a plant from a photo, then get species-specific care information, safety notes, and common problems.
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