What is this plant?

Pretty sure it's some sort of maple. Maybe grew from a seed of a nearby maple.

This reminded me of our retired penny. Even has the same color.

First glance ... looks like a Japanese Maple sapling
Not uncommon for “sucker” trees to grow from nearby trees

DId it up and move it if you don't want it there. People pay money for those things (just transplanted a 6-8' tall specimen that had been growing in a trough for around a decade).

There is a free app for your phone that tells you what a plant is by snapping a pic! I forgot the name but I’ll try and look it up. It worked pretty good from what I remember.

Japanese Maple

Silver maple. For sure.

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ Silver maple. For sure.

Unless the underside is silvery, then no. Also the new leaves are not red. https://untamedscience.com/wp-content/u ... e-leaf.jpg

I don't believe that it is a Japanese maple, but am not certain what it could be. https://www.carolinanature.com/trees/acpa.html The leaf shape isn't right ... https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/36/7e ... b39846.jpg

The Japanese maple is known for very distinct lobing of the leaves, so much so that they almost appear to be compound leaves. However, you will note all lobes of this leaf still originate from a single point on the leaf stock and have no stems of their own. There is some variation between cultivars of this tree, but most possess this feature to a greater or lesser degree.

OttawaGardener wrote: ↑ Unless the underside is silvery, then no. Also the new leaves are not red. https://untamedscience.com/wp-content/u ... e-leaf.jpg

I took this picture 10 minutes ago on my property in Manotick. It's a silver maple. https://ibb.co/Zh0qvPg

Not really sure but definitely not Japanese red maple.

I just went out again and took a close up of the maple's emerging leaves: https://ibb.co/F39wbXy

Identifying emerging leaves is tricky. I have lived half my life in a forest surrounded by red and silver maples with a scattering of other maples, ash, elm, etc. I am not an expert identifying trees but I am certain that the OP's tree is a silver maple.

And look what else I found on my out there:

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ And look what else I found on my out there:

Nice ... Red Trilliums (aka Wake Robins)
Sure sign that Spring has FINALLY come to Eastern Ontario
Saw a real life Robin the other day too

It looks like Ninebark to me. There are different varieties.

Who do I call to collect my prize? LOL

Summer Wine ninebark

https://plantaddicts.com/summer-wine-ninebark

PointsHubby wrote: ↑ Nice ... Red Trilliums (aka Wake Robins)
Sure sign that Spring has FINALLY come to Eastern Ontario
Saw a real life Robin the other day too

Oh, the Robins have been here for a few weeks now - they are already building nests. The get busy as soon as they arrive.

Spotted these Jack-in-the-pulpit pushing up not far from that Trillium patch. Focus isn't great but a nice shot all the same...

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ I took this picture 10 minutes ago on my property in Manotick. It's a silver maple. https://ibb.co/Zh0qvPg

Interesting~! Is the underside silver, or does that not appear till summer? It is definitely a defining characteristic of silver maples.

The leaves are easy to identify by the deep, narrow notches separating 5-7 lobes (usually only 5 on Sugar Maple leaves), and the pale white undersides.

And your other photos are lovely! I miss our country acreage (south of Vernon) My brother has 6 acres on the Manotick Station Road, with a pond and all kinds of wildlife.

OttawaGardener wrote: ↑ Interesting~! Is the underside silver, or does that not appear till summer? It is definitely a defining characteristic of silver maples.


And your other photos are lovely! I miss our country acreage (south of Vernon) My brother has 6 acres on the Manotick Station Road, with a pond and all kinds of wildlife.

Emerging silver maple leaves can range in colour and it seems to depend on the maturity of the tree. The OP's (and mine) are from shoots or very young trees and they do seem to produce the most red leaves in the spring. I don't know why and I have never seen spring-growth silver maple leaves that red coming from a mature tree. For some reason, they emerge on the orange-red spectrum from shoots that are on the red-brown spectrum. I have ones that are slightly less red on grey-barked branches but from young trees that are no taller than 10-12'. Anything bigger than that, the leaves come out with maybe just a tinge of red. Regardless of the age of the tree, as the leaves mature, they will turn to green and their underside goes from this orange/red colour to silver, exactly as you originally described.

The shape of the silver maple leaf is distinctive - there is no other maple with a leaf with these characteristics.

Regardless, the OP should pull it out - it's way too close to the foundation of the house.

Thank you everyone!

We removed a couple of spruce trees from our backyard last year and new trees were part of the plan in the future. So this works out nicely.

I'll move it this week.