Acer platanoides

Norway maple is in the soapberry or Sapindaceae family and is native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia. It grows up to 30 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m in diameter, with a broad, rounded crown.

• Leaves are opposite, simple and palmate lobed with five lobes. The leaf petiole is 8–20 cm long (occasionally 1.5 times the length of the leaf).
• Milky sap is exuded at the base of the petiole when a leaf is picked from a branch (sugar maples have shorter petioles and no milky sap).
• Flowers are bright yellow-green, showy, in clusters, starting to appear before the leaves in spring.
• Winged seeds form double samaras shaped like a clothes hanger (the wings spread close to 180° (sugar maples are shaped more like a horseshoe (the wings are close to parallel to up to 15°)).