Q: I have a maple in my front yard still sporting its yellow leaves. But how can I tell if it is a Silver maple as opposed to a Red or Sugar or some other kind? To my untrained eye, the leaves all look the same. And isn’t there a type of maple found mostly in Georgia (I live in Atlanta) that you have spoken or written about? I inherited this tree when we bought the house.

A: Check out this maple ID site:

Maple ID

The silver backside of the leaves and the stinky smell of broken twigs are the clues I use.