In the first week of February, people in northwestern Louisiana can find something delightful outside: red maple flowers. Not only are red maples (
Acer rubrum) a common landscape choice in our area, they can also be found throughout the wilds of Louisiana and neighboring states. It's a handsome, low-maintenance, fast-growing tree adapted to a generous range of growing conditions.What more could we ask for?
Our tree of the week is a 25-year-old red maple. This individual is a true Shreveport native. It was collected in the fall of 1994, on Line Avenue. On April 15, 1996, it was planted in the ground, in the west floodplain near the stream. Initially, there was more shade in this area, but over the past two decades several large on-site native trees have passed and been removed.
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| The individual in question, pictured center, is growing on the west side of the arboretum drainage channel. The leafless red maple is shown with an upright trunk and an asymmetrical crown. It's tall and straight. Let's talk a bit about the area. This part of the arboretum, located near the Fitness Center, is a floodplain. During heavy rains, water flows down hill and spans out across the grass, leaving the ground soggy for several days. Some trees would find this situation too wet, but the red maple loves it. This little floodplain is also home to two sweet bay magnolias, a water tupelo, a basswood, and a clump of four bitter pecans, all pictured in the above photo. |
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| From another angle, we can see the bifurcation of the trunk. Despite the split, the two main branches go straight up. Mickle Hall stands at the top of a steep hill on the opposite side of the drainage channel. |
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| The trunk divides into two main branches. A heavy-looking, light-colored vine is attached to the thicker branch, which, incidentally, is also the south-facing branch. This is a volunteer trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans). |
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| Trumpet creeper is a woody, deciduous vine. Its yellowish gray bark is rough and marked with aerial roots by which it attaches itself to any available structure. |
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| The vine appears to dead-end into the ground. Below ground as above ground this tree and vine are surely intertwined. |
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| Red
maples are known for surface roots. This individual exhibits the trait
of the species, but so far it hasn't been a problem for the mowers. Should we add a 'watch your step' advisory? |
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| Mature red maple bark is rough with shallow ridges. |
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| This is the immature bark on a small limb. This bark is smooth by comparison. |
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| Finally, we come to the originating comment of this post. This week, our red maples are showing out. Can you see the specks of red along the branches? These are the flowers. |
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| Looking up, we can see more of the red coloration. |
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| In Louisiana, the tiny, red flowers appear during the winter months, well in advance of spring. |
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| Red maple flowers appear in clusters. This particular tree seems to only have female flowers, at least within reach. |
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| Female red maple flowers |
