Bigtooth Maple, Western or Rocky Mountain Sugar Maple             A-ser gran-de-den-TAY-tum

• Deciduous tree to 35(50) ft [10(15) m] high with a spread of more than half the height, or it may grow as a multistemmed shrub to as much as 20 ft (6m) high.  Leaves opposite, simple and palmately veined, 5-8 cm across, 3 (commonly) to 5 lobed, broad shallow spaces between lobes (sinuses), a few widely spaced rounded teeth, dark green and lustrous above, lighter below with some pubescence (hairs); fall color may be bright yellow, orange, and red.  Flowers small, yellow-green, in slender hanging clusters about 2.5-5 cm long, appearing with the leaves.  Fruit consists of two pair of winged samara, often rose-colored in mid-summer, each about 2.5 cm long, mature in early fall.
• Sun and light shade.  Best on well-drained soil on the dry side.  Adaptable to alkaline soil.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Native range from Wyoming to Utah amid south to New Mexico and northern Mexico.  
• grandidentatum: having big teeth.