Maple leaf on Canadian money actually from Norway

A noted Canadian botanist has claimed that the maple leaf found on Canada's new banknotes are actually Norwegian, not Canadian.

The Canadian government recently issued new notes that featured the leaf on the $20, $50 and $100 bills.

Sean Blaney, a botanist at the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Center in New Brunswick pointed out to the CBC that bills are not Canada's sugar maple but rather a Norway maple.

"The maple leaf (on the currency) is the wrong species," he told Reuters.

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Blaney said that the Norway maple tends to contain more sections and is more pointed than the Canadian version.

That said, the Norway maple is quite common in North America and particularly in eastern Canada.

The controversy has even sparked a response from the Canadian central bank.

"It is not a Norway maple leaf. It is a stylized maple leaf and it is what it ought to be," said Bank of Canada spokesperson Julie Girard, reported 

Blaney does not buy it, said Reuters.