Campus Tree Tour
Aceraceae/Sapindaceae – Maple Family
In 2024, this boxelder was measured at 34.2 feet tall and 22 inches in diameter. Based on USDA Forest Service models, it will absorb approximately 3,625 lbs. of carbon over the next 20 years. Put simply, this tree alone will offset up to 14,671 car miles worth of carbon dioxide.
See all species on our Campus Tree Tour.
Introduction
Boxelders have the widest native distribution of all North American maples, making it adaptable to a variety of climates. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with a bushy crown of green leaves that turn golden in the fall. Although its leaflets resemble poison ivy, they are not poisonous. The tree is short-lived and susceptible to damage from insects, diseases, and wind events; thus, it is not commonly planted as an urban tree. Yet, many people still value this tree for its sugary sap and presence in indigenous culture.
Physical Description
Life expectancy: 75-100 years
Height: 40-50 feet tall
Crown: Spans 30-40 ft
Diameter: 24-48 inches
Bark: Tannish, grey bark with thin shallow vertical fissures
Leaves: Deciduous, pinnately compound leaves with a range of 3-5 leaflets. Leaves are oppositely arranged, and leaflets are often lobed with large, teeth-like, or dentate, margins.
Twig: Distinctively green from photosynthesis, and the branching arrangement is also oppositely arranged.
Flowers: Yellow green flowers that form in clusters on racemes during early spring.
Fruits: Pair of samaras that are brownish-tan and ranges from 1-1½ inches in size.
Key Identification Characteristics: Lobed leaves, opposite arrangement, green twigs
Past and Present Uses
Historically, boxelders were planted in shelterbelts in the Great Plains to prevent wind erosion and dust storms from affecting farmsteads and livestock areas. Native Americans would use its sap for syrup and candy, its cambium for food, its inner bark for tea as a purgative, and its new branches for ceremonial paintings.
Currently, boxelder has limited commercial uses due to its short life-expectancy and soft, weak wood. Their wood can be used for pulp. Whilst it is not an ideal urban tree, the boxelder can be used temporarily as a source of shade. Additionally, its high adaptability and fibrous root system makes it suitable for erosion control in different areas of the world.
Ecological Importance
Origin: Native to the United States, Canada, and Central America
Native Range: Ranges from Canada to Guatemala; in the United States, the range expands from New York south to central Florida, west to Texas, Colorado, and the Central Valley in California (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Native range of Boxelder. Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Boxelders can grow under a variety of climatic conditions, but they are commonly found in wetter sites with moist soils along stream banks and pond edges. However, they can occasionally be found on upland sites on drier soils. In Florida, boxelders grow in association with bottomland hardwoods such as red maple, cottonwood, sweetgum, sugarberry, and American Elm.
Boxelder seeds from the samaras attract squirrels, other mammals, and birds. The tree may also host a variety of pestilent insects, such as the boxelder bug or the boxelder aphid. A variety of fungi also damage the tree.
More Information
UF Edis Document about Boxelder
References
Acer negundo - ash-leaved maple, boxelder. (2024). Go Botany; Native Plant Trust. https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/acer/negundo/
Acer negundo (box elder). (2019). CABI Compendium; CABI Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1079/cabicompendium.2862
Gilman, E., Watson, D., Klein, R., Koeser, A., Hilbert, D., & McLean, D. (2019). ENH-179/ST020: Acer negundo: Boxelder. Edis.ifas.ufl.edu; UF IFAS Extension. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST020
i-Tree. (2006). Tree tools - calculate the benefits of trees!. i-Tree. https://www.itreetools.org/
Nesom, G. (n.d.). Boxelder. In Plant Guide. USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_acne2.pdf
Overton, R. (n.d.). Boxelder. Www.srs.fs.usda.gov; Forest Service U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/acer/negundo.htm
Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet. (2021). Dendro.cnre.vt.edu; Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=3