Located as a group of plants near courtyard of home economics building.

• leaves opposite, lobed, widely variable in shape and number of lobes
• leaves may be dissected into ribbon-like lobes or entire with pointed lobes
• leaves may be green, but are often purple all season on common landscape cultivars
• buds valvate, small, red-brown, hidden by base of leaf petiole
• flowers red-purple, in clusters, emerge with leaves
• fruit a very small schizocarp, with samaras that are often colored red-purple and curved
• bark usually smooth and gray; perhaps rough on very old trunks
• habit is a large shrub or small tree, often with picturesque and dense branching habits
• plant can vary widely in appearance due to prevalence of cultivars (upright tree, weeping shrub, etc.)