Branches are smooth, somewhat brittle, and tend to retain a fresh green color rather than forming a bark of dead, protective tissue.

The bark on its trunks is pale gray or light brown, deeply cleft into broad ridges, and scaly.

[7] Unlike most other maples, A. negundo is fully dioecious and both a male and female tree are needed for reproduction to occur.

[citation needed] Indicative of its familiarity to many people over a large geographic range, A. negundo has numerous common names.

Because of its leaflets' superficial similarity to those of poison ivy, Acer negundo saplings are often mistaken for the allergenic plant.

[16] Like poison ivy, Acer negundo is also a noted riparian species, and can often be found growing along riverbeds and in wet soils generally.

[citation needed] Acer negundo is native across much of the United States (mostly in the east)[8] and south-central Canada, and can be found as far south as Guatemala.

[citation needed] It can quickly colonize both cultivated and uncultivated areas and the range is therefore expanding both in North America and elsewhere.

In Europe where it was introduced in 1688 as a park tree it is able to spread quickly and is considered an invasive species in parts of Central Europe, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland and Russia where it can form mass growth in lowlands, disturbed areas, and riparian biomes on calcareous soils.

[23] Human influence has greatly favored this species; it grows around houses and in hedges, as well as on disturbed ground and vacant lots.

[23] Although its weak wood, irregular form, and prolific seeding might make it seem like a poor choice for a landscape tree, A. negundo is one of the most common maples in cultivation.

[26] Many cultivars have been developed, such as:[5] A protoxin present in the seeds of Acer negundo, hypoglycin A, has been identified as a major risk factor for, and possibly the cause of, a disease in horses, seasonal pasture myopathy (SPM).

SPM is an equine neurological disease which occurs seasonally in certain areas of North America and Europe, with symptoms including stiffness, difficulty walking or standing, dark urine and eventually breathing rapidly and becoming recumbent.

Ingestion of sufficient quantities of box elder seeds or other parts of the plant results in breakdown of respiratory, postural, and cardiac muscles.

[27][28][29] It is analogous to Jamaican vomiting sickness in humans, also caused by hypoglycin A. Acer negundo pollen, which is released in winter or spring (varying with latitude and elevation)[30] is a severe allergen.

[citation needed] There is also some commercial use of the tree for various decorative applications, such as turned items (bowls, stem-ware, pens).

[42] The sap has been used to make syrup by Native Americans, including the Dakota,[38] Omaha,[43][36] Pawnee, Ponca, Winnebago,[36] Cree,[44] Sioux,[45] and the indigenous people of Montana.