Marvelous Maple

Take a stroll at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area (ORCA), and you will find red maple (Acer rubra) trees growing in moist (freshwater) places on both sides of Oslo Road.  Red maples trees are deciduous and bring Florida fall color.  With warming temperatures, the red maples get their fresh new leaves earlier and earlier.

The opposite leaves of red maple have 3 to 5 lobes, serrated margins (leaf edges), and red petioles (leafstems).

The bark of young trees is light grey and smooth as shown below along the wetland crossover deck at south ORCA …

From the driveway of the north ORCA parking lot, you can see a red maple trees growing in the midst of cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) …

Red maples grow to be from 65 – 75′ tall and are tall, slender trees (from 25 – 35′ wide).  Their bark becomes dark grey, rough, and furrowed with age, as shown on this lichen-festooned tree near the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory Boathouse and Great Atlantic land crab burrows …

Red maples do well in moist places in home landscapes and can bring the joy of fall color.