A medium-sized, soft maple tree found on a variety of sites throughout the eastern U.S. The leaves are generally 3-lobed, serrate, with the sides of the terminal lobe often convergent and glaucous below. The twigs are without fetid odor with obtuse, imbricate buds with reddish scales. The wings of the fruit are only slightly divergent that mature in late spring to early summer. The bark is gray scaly plates, variable, and often with "targets."