red maple Aceraceae Acer rubrum
Leaf:Opposite, simple, 3 to 5 palmate lobes with serrated margin, sinuses relatively shallow (but highly variable), 2 to 4 inches long; green above, whitened and sometimes glaucous or hairy beneath.
Flower:Attractive but small, occur in hanging clusters, usually bright red but occasionally yellow, appear in early spring, usually before leaves.
Fruit:Clusters of 1/2 to 3/4 inch long samaras with slighly divergent wings, on long slender stems. Light brown and often reddish, ripen in late spring and early summer.
Twig:Reddish and lustrous with small lenticels, buds usually blunt, green or reddish (fall and winter) with several loose scales usually present, leaf scars V-shaped, 3 bundle scars, lateral buds slightly stalked, may be collateral buds present.
Bark:On young trees, smooth and light gray, with age becomes darker and breaks up into long, fine scaly plates.
Form:Medium sized tree up to 90 feet. In forest, trunk usually clear for some distance, in the open the trunk is shorter and the crown rounded.
Notes:
|