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Shantung maple Aceraceae Acer truncatum Bunge Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol:
Leaf: Opposite, simple, overall shape a half circle, 3 to 6 inches wide, usually 5 v-shaped lobes (may resemble a sweetgum leaf) with entire margins, usually with a truncate leaf base, exudes milky white sap from the petiole when detached, green above and below. Subspecies mono has shallower sinuses, giving it a boxey look.
Flower: Yellow to green, each flower to 1/2 inch wide (large for a maple), clustered in 3 inch flower heads, appearing in spring.
Fruit: Two-winged pair of samaras about 1 inch long, forming a broad U shape or tight V shape, oval seed cavity, matures in early fall.
Twig: Reddish brown to grayish brown (some with a purple tint), buds plump and green to purplish brown, somewhat elongated.
Bark: Variable, but generally grayish brown or with a purple tint, young bark warty; older trees may be somewhat furrowed, with short, thick, irregular curling-outward ridges.
Form: A small tree with a round crown, commonly to 25 feet (subsp. mono to 40 feet and more, spreading).
 Looks like: Norway maple - sweetgum - Miyabe maple

Shantung maple leaf image
Shantung maple flower image
Shantung maple fruit image
Shantung maple twig image
Shantung maple bark image
Shantung maple form image
Shantung maple map image

Additional Range Information: Acer truncatum is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links:
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information