|
Swamp Maple,
Acer rubrum |
| Location: S. Mt. Airy Ave. |
| Caretaker: Jaimie Lee Vigue |
| Height: 66' |
| Trunk Circumference: 14' |
| Crown spread: 34' 8" |
| Total points: 269 |
| Estimated age: 60+ yrs |
| |
| The red or swamp maple, a tree common on
swamps and wet woods, rarely attains a height of
over 50 feet in the North but sometime measures
80 to 120 feet in the South. It may be
distinguished by its reddish branches; the twigs
of very young trees are bright, dark red.
The leaf is characterized by three divisions,
although one may frequently find specimens with
the five points distinctly defined. The
flowers of the red maple much precede the leave
in early spring; the twigs are red, not brown
and the wings of the seeds only slightly diverge
and the leaf is whitish underneath and it turns
bright, deep red or orange in autumn. It
is one of the very earliest trees to blossom in
the spring. |
from Familiar Trees and their Leaves,
F. Schuyler Mathews, 1903
|