Last week we had a look at a relatively young red maple (
Acer rubrum), between 5 and 10 years old. This week we have pictures from an older individual; the red maple pictured below is well over 30 years of age. Ed Leuck collected it as a sapling in Caddo parish during February 1985 from Jack Price. It's growing on a slope with other maples,
red buds, and a
bois d'arc. The pictures below illustrate variability in the species, as well as the differences resulting from age.
At this moment the arboretum is filled with autumnal colors. Enjoy it while you can!
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| The leaves of the red maple do not necessarily turn red. This particular tree has orange fall foliage with some red mixed-in. |
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| This red maple is doing marvelously in the middle of a slope, casting a lot of shade in the summer. All that good shade will make life harder for the grass underneath. |
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| From another angle, we can see that this tree has a crook in its trunk and a well-developed lower bough. |
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| After the crook, the trunk travels straight up. |
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| Overall the tree has orange fall foliage, but there are a few striking red leaves in the mix. Also, looking closely, you can notice some variability in leaf shape. |
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| Red maple leaves occur opposite from one another, rather than alternately like the red bud (Cercis canadensis). |
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| These leaves are caught in the act of changing. We see a lot of color on these simple leaves. |
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| The underside remains white, tinged with a little seasonal color. |
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| Here we see the variability in the species. The leaf on the left is from our red maple discussed last week: it's a 5-lobed unmistakably red leaf. The leaf on the right is from our current tree of the week: it has 3 lobes, possessing a trident-shape, and it is more orange than red. |
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| Flipping both leaves over, we see that they both lose color, but one is noticeably pink. |
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| Intraspecies variability is one thing and age is another. Young red maples have smooth gray bark. This tree is over 30, and considerably less than smooth. The color of the bark remains similar, mostly gray, but it has become rougher with age. |
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| Being older has its advantages. For one, you can withstand a little friendly competition. We are allowing a cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata) to climb the trunk, and hopefully it will drape itself over that highly developed lower bough. |
You can find more pictures of the arboretum's red maples
here.
For more information about this species consult the following:
University of Florida IFAS Extension (see Figure 3)
Virginia Tech Dendrology
