An uncommon small tree of higher elevations in the Mountains.

Buncombe Co., NC 7/8/06.

The leaves are easily told apart from Red Maple by their rugose texture -- the veins are deeply impressed in the leaf. The leaves are white-hairy beneath.

Young fruits. The inflorescence is an upright panicle, while that of the similar Striped Maple droops.

The bark is thin and light brownish, much different from that of Striped Maple. The easiest way to tell the two apart is to examine the bark.