I found a tree with 5-lobed leaves and helicopter seeds. What is it?

A tree with 5-lobed leaves and helicopter seeds (technically called samaras) is almost certainly a maple (Acer species). Maples are the only common North American trees with both of these features. The specific species depends on leaf details, bark, and where you found it.

Common 5-lobed maples (how to tell them apart):

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum): - 5 lobes with smooth edges (few or no teeth) and rounded sinuses (the indentations between lobes) - Leaves 3-6 inches wide, dark green above, paler below - Fall color: spectacular orange, red, and gold - Bark: gray-brown, developing vertical ridges and plates with age - The maple syrup tree! Native and excellent for landscapes.

Red maple (Acer rubrum): - 3-5 lobes (often inconsistent) with serrated (toothed) margins - Smaller leaves than sugar maple, 2-5 inches wide - Red buds, flowers, leaf stalks, and fall color (hence the name) - Bark: smooth and gray when young, developing scaly plates - Extremely common native species, tolerates wet soils

Norway maple (Acer platanoides) — INVASIVE: - 5-7 lobes with pointed tips and few large teeth - Milky sap when you break a leaf stem — this is the key ID feature (sugar and red maples have clear sap) - Very wide, horizontally spreading samaras (nearly 180 degrees apart) - Bark: dark gray with interlacing ridges - Invasive in most of the eastern US — outcompetes native maples. Do not plant.

Silver maple (Acer saccharinum): - 5 deeply cut lobes with serrated edges — most dissected-looking maple leaf - Silvery-white leaf undersides (flash silver in the wind) - Fast-growing but weak wood — prone to storm damage

Try our Tree ID Guide for interactive identification help, and see Plant Database for detailed species information.