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Also known as Goosefoot Maple or Moosewood – Moose love to eat its leaves and young shoots. Striped Maple is found in the Algonquin Highlands in newly created gaps in the forest, somewhat enriched soil, and will colonize an area and thrive until the canopy is closed and other trees shade it. They grow to 9 metres in height or their trunks are 15 cm in diameter. They can live about 100 years.
Named for its white stripes on its green bark, it becomes reddish-brown with long pale vertical lines. Striped Maple leaves are opposite, finely serrated, 13-18 cm long and 3 short broad lobes. Its flowers are yellow, about 10 mm wide, bell-shaped, and has 5 petals. They fall in long, hanging clusters from the end of the twig. Striped Maple is one of the earliest spring bloomers. The fruit is 3 cm long, growing in many paired, widely forking keys. They are long-winged, light brown, 1-seeded.
Birds feed on the buds, and Rabbits, Beavers, Deer and Porcupines (and of course Moose!) eat the bark.
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