Red Maple

Aceraceae

LIFE FORM: tree

NATIVITY: Eastern North America

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Smooth gray bark when young; red leaf stalks and twigs; brilliant red autumn foliage; bark on mature trees can peel in long, up-curling strips.

FLOWERS:

Red flowers-- male flowers are more orange-red than female, which are pure red; February-May bloom.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

March-July fruit; seeds occur in pairs with wings that make them "helicopter" as they fall.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

Prefers moist sites, but is also drought tolerant. A highly adaptable native species that is becoming increasingly abundant.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

not available

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Cultivars of this species have recently become popular landscape plants; early settlers made ink and dye from the bark.