Acer saccharum, Sugar maple
This tree holds a soft spot in my heart as it was one of the first trees I learned as a child because of its importance in maple syrup production. In my hometown there is a Maple Festival every spring, celebrating the abundance of maple syrup. I have also helped my Grandpa with his large scale maple sap collection for a charity for several years.
Sugar maple trees have opposite, simple, lobed leaves typically with 5, deeply toothed lobes.
The bark is dark brown with rough vertical grooves and ridges and the inner bark is sometimes eaten by porcupines. (Petrides, George A. 1972, Trees and Shrubs of Northeast and North Central US and Southeast and South Central Canada (Peterson Field Guide). Houghton Miflin, 96-97 pp.)
A tree of economic importance, not only for its applications in furniture but also as the source of maple syrup and sugar (Illinois Wildflowers).