How to Identify Boxelder

Look for a small- to medium-sized tree, often featuring multiple trunks growing from one root system. Boxelder averages between 30 and 60 feet high, with trunk diameters to 30 inches, but usually much smaller. The crown of a boxelder is often ragged-looking and irregular, because the tree loses branches as it ages due to the weak quality of its wood.

Examine the compound leaves of the boxelder. Most maples have simple, single-bladed leaves, but the boxelder's foliage consists of a central stem and attached leaflets. Measure the central stem. It should be about 6 inches in length. The leaflets, between 2 and 4 inches long and attached to the central axis on 3-inch stems, vary in number. Older trees typically feature leaves with three leaflets, while younger specimens may have as many as nine.

Watch for a tree that changes color early in the fall. The boxelder turns shades of green-yellow in fall, with many leaves often coming off the tree before fall commences. Some leaves scorch from the hot summer and have brown edges.

Inspect boxelders in March or April, looking for their wispy flowers. The boxelder produces male and female flowers, but on separate trees. Male flowers grow in clusters, while the female blooms hang down. The flowers are lime-green to pale green, reports the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Study the seeds attached to the twigs of the boxelder on the female trees. The seeds, which resemble tiny propellers and are the one feature making this tree easily identifiable as a maple species, join to the twig with a thin membrane resembling a wing trailing behind it. Known as samaras, these dull yellow to brown seeds mature by September or October and are still on the tree in winter if birds fail to devour them.