Box elder
The boxelder (Acer negundo) also goes by ashleaf maple, Manitoba maple, and poison ivy tree. It's a member of the plant family Aceraceae. Although considered a "maple outcast" by many, it is indeed in the maple family and the only native maple with more than one blade or leaflet on a single leaf stalk.
Boxelder is native to North America and grows in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3 through 8. It's very common throughout the western U.S.
The tree is crafted into bonsai specimens and used as a screen or windbreak and for land reclamation. Boxelders often have multiple furrowed trunks or very squat single trunks. It grows rapidly and large (25 to 50 feet). One of the tallest ever measured had a recorded height of 110 feet. The tree's crown spread is 25 to 45 feet, and the crown is typically broad and ragged or disheveled. For this reason—and its proneness to breakage—it's not recommended to plant one in your yard.
Flowers are without petals, dioecious, and yellowish-green, and the female tassels are very conspicuous. The very maple-looking seeds, called samaras, hang in long, profuse clusters and stay on the tree throughout winter. Nearly every seed is viable and will cover up a disturbed area with seedlings. The boxelder is a very prolific seeder.
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