![]() Red maple trees usually occurs sporadically in forests on moist to wet, nutrient-rich soils, particularly on lower seepage slopes. Samaras ripen in late spring dispersal is by wind (anemochory).Įcology and Habitat: Red maple is an uncommon tree in some areas of Newfoundland it is most common in western and northeastern Newfoundland, and is absent from Labrador. Immature samaras are red, occasionally green, maturing to light brown and becoming veiny over the seed case. Samaras have divergent or downward-pointing wings with a narrow V-shaped angle, (less than 90°) between the wings. Flowers bloom in early spring, well before the leaves emerge pollination is by insects (entomophily), including andrenid bees, honey bees, syrphid flies, and a variety of other flies, bees, wasps, and beetles (Batra 1985).įruit: Pairs of winged samaras (commonly called maple keys), each 1.5–2.5 cm long, are borne on elongate pendant pedicels. The superior ovary has 2 winged carpels and 2 deep red styles, which are stigmatic along the inner surface. Female flowers occur in umbel-like clusters from the lateral buds and have slender arching pedicels that lengthen in fruit. Male flowers occur in short dense clusters near the branch tips and have 3–12 (often 8) stamens. Flowers are red and glabrous, with a deeply divided 5-lobed calyx and 5 petals calyx lobes and petals are oblong and blunt, with the petals slightly smaller than the calyx lobes a nectar disk is present at the base of the flower, where drops of nectar can be seen between the stamens or at the base of the ovary. įlowers: Mainly unisexual young trees may have unisexual flowers on different trees (plants dioecious), while mature trees will have unisexual flowers on the same tree or branch (plants monoecious) bisexual flowers may also be present. Leaves often turn red in autumn, although leaf blades may be mottled with green, yellow, orange, and/or red. Leaf bases are nearly truncate to cordate and margins are sharply serrate. Emerging leaves are often bronze or bright red in colour, while mature leaves are green and glabrous above and distinctly paler to glaucous or finely hairy beneath. The base of the central lobe has nearly straight sides and the angle of the sinuses between the terminal and lateral lobes is usually less than 90°. Leaf blades are 5–15 cm wide and have 3–5 lobes that are quite variable in size and length the central and upper lateral lobes are shouldered, abruptly indented in a step-like fashion to a sharply pointed (acuminate) apex. The petioles are 5–10 cm long and often red in colour. Leaves: Opposite, simple, palmately lobed and veined, and petiolate. The bark of mature trees is greyish-brown with deep furrows and narrow scaly ridges that are loose along the edges. Leaf scars are narrow and broadly U- or V-shaped, with 3 vascular trace scars. Flower buds are globose and clustered near the end of the twig on short shoots. Terminal buds are 3–4 mm long, lateral buds are shorter. ![]() The terminal and opposite lateral buds are ovoid and blunt (obtuse), with 3–4 pairs of overlapping (imbricate) dark red bud scales that have a narrow ciliate margin of pale hairs. Stems/twigs: Twigs are red to reddish-brown, smooth (glabrous) and somewhat shiny, with small scattered pale lenticels. Flowers are usually red and occur in short dense unisexual clusters near twig ends and bloom well before the leaves appear.The angle between the two wings of the samaras is V-shaped and narrow.Leaves have 3–5 lobes the central lobe of the leaf blade is shouldered, with straight, nearly parallel sides at the base.Key Features: (numbers 1–2 refer to the illustration ) Due to its brilliant fall foliage, red maple is often planted as a shade tree, while its wood is used commercially for lumber, furniture, cabinetry, and a variety of wood products (Meier 1995) it also provides browse for wildlife, and is considered an important early spring nectar source for bees and other insects (Batra 1985). ![]() Red maple is also a pioneer species that can tolerate a wide range of soil and moisture regime conditions, from dry sandy soils to wet swamps, and sprouts quickly from the root crown or stump after cutting or fire. Red maple is moderately shade-tolerant, usually shallow-rooted, and very tolerant of flooding (Walter and Yawney 1990). of 60 cm, and living up to 100 years (Farrar 1995). General: A medium-sized deciduous tree, up to 25 m tall, with a d.b.h. Note: Numbers provided in square brackets in the text refer to the image presented above image numbers are displayed to the lower left of each image.
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