Identify by feature
Tree with palmate leaves, like a maple: which one is it?
A tree with palmately lobed leaves is usually a maple – sycamore, Norway maple or field maple – or, if the leaves alternate along the twig, a London plane, a sweetgum or a white poplar.
15 species with this feature
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Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
Broadleaf tree
Opposite, 10–20 cm, with 5 coarsely and irregularly toothed lobes; underside grey-green. Leaf stalk often red, without milky sap.
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Norway maple Acer platanoides
Broadleaf tree
Opposite, 10–18 cm, with 5–7 lobes ending in long, pointed teeth; glossy. Snap the leaf stalk and white milky sap comes out.
Native
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Field maple Acer campestre
Broadleaf tree
Opposite, small (5–10 cm), with 3–5 rounded lobes without pointed teeth. The leaf stalk contains milky sap.
Native
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London plane Platanus × hispanica
Broadleaf tree
Alternate, palmately lobed with 3–5 lobes, 12–25 cm. The base of the leaf stalk is hollow and encloses the bud.
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Silver maple Acer saccharinum
Broadleaf tree
Opposite, 10–15 cm, with 5 very deeply cut, finely toothed lobes; underside silvery white. No milky sap.
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Japanese maple Acer palmatum
Shrub
Opposite, 5–10 cm, with 5–9 pointed, toothed lobes; green or red, superb autumn colour.
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Red maple Acer rubrum
Broadleaf tree
Opposite, 6–10 cm, with 3 (sometimes 5) shallow, irregularly toothed lobes; green above, blue-white below. Leaf stalk often red, without milky sap.
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Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua
Broadleaf tree
Alternate, star-shaped with 5–7 pointed, finely toothed lobes, glossy. Smells resinous when crushed.
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White poplar Populus alba
Broadleaf tree
Alternate; on long shoots palmate with 3–5 lobes, on short shoots oval with wavy teeth. Underside and young twigs white-felted.
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Guelder rose Viburnum opulus
Shrub
Opposite, 3–5-lobed, coarsely toothed, 5–10 cm; small glands on the leaf stalk. Red autumn colour.
Native
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Syrian hibiscus Hibiscus syriacus
Shrub
Alternate, 5–10 cm, diamond-shaped, often three-lobed, coarsely toothed.
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Mountain currant Ribes alpinum
Shrub
Alternate, 2–5 cm, roundish with 3 (sometimes 5) deeply toothed lobes, glossy and almost hairless; leafs out as early as March.
Native
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Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius
Shrub
Alternate, 4–8 cm, round to oval, three-lobed and irregularly double-toothed; green, or dark purple or yellow in the garden forms.
Tip: If the leaves are in opposite pairs, it is a maple; snap a leaf stalk and see whether white milky sap comes out. If they alternate, it is not a maple.
Continue in the identification key
Torn between two?
- Sycamore or Norway maple
- London plane or sycamore
- Sycamore or silver maple
- Sweetgum or sycamore
- Norway maple or field maple
- Norway maple or London plane
- Guelder rose or field maple
- Sweetgum or London plane
- London plane or fig
- Japanese maple or silver maple
- Red maple or silver maple
- Sweetgum or red maple
- Ninebark or guelder rose