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About Boxelder
Boxelder (Acer negundo), also called ash-leaf maple or boxelder maple, is a fast-growing native maple with a look all its own. Unlike many maples with broad, hand-shaped leaves, boxelder has compound leaves, usually with 3 to 7 toothed leaflets, giving it an airy, almost ash-like appearance. In early spring, small greenish-yellow flowers appear before or as the leaves unfold, followed by paired winged seeds called samaras that hang in loose, drooping clusters.
Boxelder is not always the tidiest tree in the botanical neighborhood, but it is wonderfully useful. It grows quickly, handles wet soils, and often shows up along creeks, rivers, woodland edges, and disturbed places where other trees may be fussier. Its pale green leaves, dangling seed clusters, and opposite branching make it a fun native tree to study and color.
Where Boxelder Grows
Boxelder is native across a wide sweep of North America, occurring through much of the United States and into southern Canada. It is especially common in floodplains, moist woods, stream banks, river bottoms, and other low, damp places, though it can also appear in disturbed areas, roadsides, yards, and old fields.
Because it tolerates periodic flooding and moist soils, boxelder is often part of riparian habitats, those green ribbons of life that follow waterways. In some western landscapes, it can be an important native tree in canyons, washes, and stream corridors where shade is precious and water shapes the whole plant community.
Pollinators It Supports
Boxelder’s flowers are small and easy to overlook, but early-season insects may still find value in them. The species is largely wind-pollinated, and some sources note that its flowers are visited by bees. Native plant groups also list boxelder as attractive to native bees and other pollinators.
Boxelder also supports wildlife beyond flower visitors. It is listed as a larval host plant for the Cecropia silkmoth (Hyalophora cecropia), one of North America’s largest and most spectacular moths. Members of the maple genus also support Imperial Moth larvae, while birds and small mammals eat the seeds.
Coloring Tips
For the leaves, use fresh spring greens, soft yellow-greens, or deeper summer green tones. Each leaf is made of several leaflets, so try coloring the center leaflet slightly darker and the side leaflets a little lighter to show dimension. The edges can be jagged or toothed, which gives the page a lively, scribble-friendly texture.
The flowers are small and greenish-yellow, so they do not need bright colors to look accurate. The winged samaras can be pale green in spring and summer, then tan, straw-colored, or light brown as they mature. For bark, try gray-brown with soft vertical lines. A creekside background works beautifully: add water, stones, grasses, or a few moths and bees for extra habitat sparkle.