Size: tree, 40-50' average height at maturity
Buds: usually 6 red-purple exposed scales on terminal, may have accessory buds at twig tips, lateral buds with valvate or four exposed scales
Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 4-7" long and wide
Shape: simple, 5 pointed lobes, each with several large sharp teeth, dark green above, shiny below (unlike A. saccharum), milky sap
Twigs: thick smooth olive-brown in first year, later graybrown
Flowers: monoecious, yellow in spring, often numerous
Fruit: double samara, often in huge masses
Bark: gray-black with ridges and furrows
