This lifeform is found east of the Mississippi River in North America.

Red maple (Acer rubrum) is found widely in the United States from Canada to Florida and east to Texas and Minnesota. The leaves are generally three-lobed with smaller teeth, are from three to six inches across, and turn red in autumn. The tree can be up to 80 feet tall.

Maples (genus Acer) are a group of trees with about 150 species native to the northern hemisphere that typically have simple palmately lobed leaves and unusual winged fruits.  An exception is the box elder (Acer negundo) that has compound leaves.  Many maple species native to North America  make excellent landscape trees,  and several Eurasian species of maples also make excellent landscape trees.  Several of these Eurasian imports are now considered established in North America.  Acer platanoides (Norway), pseudoplatanus (sycamore), campestre (English field), palmatum (Japanese) and ginnala (amur) are among the introduced species listed as being established in North America.  Kartesz lists 19 species, two hybrids, and 19  subspecies as being found growing in greater North America, which includes the United States, Canada, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Two United States native species have similar spellings that can lead to confusion.  Acer saccharinum (silver) and Acer saccharum (sugar) are indeed two distinct species.  Several species of maples have exceptional fall colors.

Maple (Aceraceae) Family is a group of about 150 trees and shrubs found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. The paired winged fruits are distinctive. There are 19 species in one genus growing in greater North America.

Sapindales Order is a diverse group of mostly trees and shrubs.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are  Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings. Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite Family flowers like the  Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.

Plant kingdom contains a large variety of different organisms including mosses, ferns, and seed plants. Most plants manufacture their energy from sunlight and water. Identification of many species is difficult in that most individual plants have characteristics that have variables based on soil moisture, soil chemistry, and sunlight.

Because of the difficulty in learning and identifying different plant groups, specialists have emerged that study only a limited group of plants. These specialists revise the taxonomy and give us detailed descriptions and ranges of the various species.  Their results are published in technical journals and written with highly specialized words that apply to a specific group.

On the other hand, there are the nature publishers. These people and companies undertake the challenging task of trying to provide easy to use pictures and descriptions to identify those species.