365 Urban Species. #293: Red Maple.

[urbpan]

Photo by urbpan. Location: Aspinwall and Harvard Street, Brookline.

Urban species #293: Red Maple Acer rubrum

Some part of the red maple is always red. The leaf stems are red, the winged fruits are red, and in fall the foliage turns vivid scorching red. Red maples are generally smaller than sugar maples, and shorter-lived. In wet parts of the northeast deciduous forest, red maple can be the dominant species; the red maple swamp is a distinct and biodiverse ecological community, harboring many rare species. Red maple is a good choice for city plantings because the tree tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, from dry to flooded. Many of the red maples we encounter still have their nursery tags on them, identifying them as "October Glory" trees, a cultivar apparently very popular with the Boston and Brookline parks departments.


(This and next 2 photos by cottonmanifesto.)



A relatively large red maple at the end of our street.


The red maple leaf has fewer and shorter lobes than other maples.


(photo by urbpan) Even when the leaves are still green, the leaf stems are red.

Comments

[droserary.livejournal.com]

Several years ago, my parents cut down two beautiful and healthy weeping willows in our front yard (safety concern, I believe) and replaced them with red maples. I always wondered why they'd want to put in a tree that doesn't live as long as a sugar maple and would be tiny in maturity compared to the willows they replaced.

[ex-adarog.livejournal.com]

I had thought the red-leafed maples in my neighborhood were Red Maples, but now I deduce they must be mostly Sugar Maples; they have leaves like the Canadian flag's emblem rather than like the one in your photo. You have enlightened me.