Aesculus glabra 1 to 3 ft. Its soft wood is easily carved. Very hardy, its natural range includes cold places like northern Minnesota and North Dakota. The trunk has a unique rough corky bark which forms distinct, visually interesting ridges. Birds like the berries.
Maple is extremely hardy and produces some of the highest quality lumber known.
There are trees more than 350 years old on record. The leaves are deeply cut and silvery underneath. Fall foliage is yellow-red. The advantage to the syrup maker is less time collecting, hauling and boiling down sap. Silver Maples will grow on wetter soils than sugar maples and they are much faster growers, becoming tappable in about 8 years.