The round-leaved maple is a native of the northwestern coast of the American continent, between the forty-second and fiftieth degrees of latitude, where it arrives at the height of from twenty to forty feet. Its branches are pendent, slender, and somewhat crooked; bark, when young, smooth and of a green color. This species may readily be distinguished by the regular form of its leaves, which are heart-shaped, equally lobed and nervated, of a pale, reddish-green color, smooth above and downy beneath, with lobes acute and sharply serrated. Its flowers, which are of a middling size, appear in April and May. Its wood is fine, white, and close-grained, very tough, and susceptible of a good polish.

This species is confined to the woody, mountainous country that skirts the shores, and is particularly abundant in the region of the rapids of the river Columbia. It is propagated by layers, and is of rapid growth, the annual shoots often acquiring a length of six to ten feet.