Acer mandshuricum is a slender deciduous tree that reaches a height of up to 30 meters tall but is usually smaller. It is a trifoliate maple related to such other species as three-flower maple (Acer triflorum) and paperbark maple (Acer griseum) but has smooth, gray bark dissimilar to the exfoliating bark of either. The leaves have a 7–10 cm petiole and three leaflets; the leaflets are short-stalked, oblong, 5–10 cm (2-4 inches) long and 1.5–3 cm broad, with serrated margins, the central leaflet the same size as or slightly larger than the two side leaflets. It leafs out early in the spring and the deep green leaves are contrast with its red petioles throughout the growing season. The flowers are yellowish-green, produced in corymbs of three to five together. The hard, horizontally-spreading samaras are 3-3.5 cm long and 1 cm broad.