Boxelder is widespread through the Central States along streams, roads and fields. It grows rapidly and has been used as a shade tree in prairie towns, through it is not nearly so attractive as other mMaples. It is also used in shelterbelt plantings.
Boxelder is an exceptional Maple, the only one with compound leaves. Its leaves grow oppositely on thick green twigs, with three to five large, coarsely toothed leaflets. The grayish-brown bark is thin, cracking into interlacing fissures. The fruits, tyupical paired keys of Maple, grow in drooping clusters.
