Boxelder is a distinctive maple of stream banks with leaves reminiscent of poison-ivy and distinctive green twigs. There are five varieties of A. negundo in the United States. In North Carolina var. negundo is by far the most common; var. texanum is rare in the western Mountains.

The leaves are quite easy to tell from those of poison-ivy -- they're opposite, borne on green twigs, and most often have 5 leaflets per leaf (normal range is 3-7).