Paperbark maple is perhaps one of our most beautiful maples. It is a slow-growing deciduous tree with strikingly orange, peeling, papery bark (Fig. 2) not unlike that of the River Birch (Betula nigra) providing year-round interest. It has unusual trifoliate leaves for a maple, and the bark exfoliates even on young trees and small branches, making this a truly stunning specimen tree. Most specimens grow with multiple trunks which branch low to the ground, but can be trained to create a single trunk, as in the specimen pictured above (Fig. 1). Paperbark maple has outstanding, showy scarlet fall foliage.