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Family: Sapindaceae
Mid-Atlantic bloom time: March - May
Eastern Boxelder is mostly dioecious (separate "male" and "female" trees), but occasionally has both types of flowers on a single tree. It has compound leaves with typically 3-5 leaflets.
Note the individual leaflet shape is similar to Poison Ivy, which can cause some confusion when the tree is young or its unclear whether a vine or branch is hanging in your face. The two can easily be differentiated by noting that Eastern Boxelder has opposite compound leaves with 3 or 5 leaflets, whereas Poison Ivy has alternate compound leaves with only 3 leaflets.
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20 June 2014
Manassas National Battlefield Park 
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Bull Run Regional Park, Centreville, VA (emerging male flowers) 
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29 March 2017
Bull Run Regional Park, Centreville, VA (male flowers) 
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19 April 2018
Dove's Landing Park, Manassas, VA (female flowers) 
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5 July 2014
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Leesburg, VA (samaras, i.e., winged seeds) 
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