The samaras can be yellow, red, or reddish brown. Each samara is ¾-1" long, consisting of a single-seeded body and an elongated membranous wing. Each pair of samaras forms a 45-90° angle. The female flowers are replaced by paired samaras that are arranged along the twigs in drooping umbels. The flowers bloom during early to mid-spring for about 1-2 weeks. The sepals and petals are usually red (less often yellow) and very similar in appearance. Individual female flowers are about 1/8" (3 mm.) long, consisting of 5 sepals, 5 petals, and a 2-celled ovary with a pair of divergent styles. These clusters are initially sessile, but the pedicels of the flowers soon become ½-2" long, resulting in drooping umbels. The female flowers also occur in clusters along last year's branches (usually on separate branches when male flowers are present on a tree). Individual male flowers are about 1/8" (3 mm.) long, consisting of 5 sepals, 5 petals, and several stamens. Male flowers occur in dense sessile clusters along last year's twigs they are surrounded by short scaly bracts with ciliate margins. Individual trees of Red Maple can develop all male flowers, all female flowers, or both male and female flowers on the same tree. The slender petioles are 2-3½" long and light green to red. In some local ecotypes of this tree, the lower side of the leaves is slightly glaucous, while in others it is densely glaucous. The upper surface of the leaves is yellowish green to medium green and glabrous, while the lower surface is pale gray-green to white, glabrous or nearly glabrous, and glaucous. The base of each leaf is slightly cordate to rounded. The sinuses divide the leaf blade moderately deep and they are cleft. Individual leaves are 2½-4" long and a little less across they are divided into 3 palmate lobes (or less often 5 palmate lobes) and their margins are crenate-serrate. Pairs of opposite leaves occur along young twigs and shoots. Young leafy shoots are light green, glabrous, and terete they also have scattered white lenticels. The bark of branches and older twigs is whitish gray and smooth, while young twigs of the current year are reddish brown, glabrous, terete, and covered with scattered white lenticels. Trunk bark of older trees is gray, irregularly scaly, and rough-textured, while trunk bark of young trees is light gray and more smooth. Other important features include hemlock regeneration in early successional forest ephemeral ponds and super canopy white pine.Description: This tree is 50-80' tall, forming a single trunk up to 3' across and a rounded crown with ascending to spreading branches. The site is easily accessible by US Highway 63 and has both an interpretive trail and a portion of the North Country Scenic Trail allowing easy access for the public to view and enjoy old-growth forest. Wetter areas with a hemlock canopy have a ground layer of three-leaved goldthread, mountain wood sorrel, and yellow blue-bead lily. Characteristic herbs include Canada mayflower, intermediate wood fern, northern tree club-moss, shining club-moss, and rough leaved rice cut grass. The understory is sparse with tree saplings and American fly honeysuckle, beaked hazelnut, and leatherwood. Wet pockets of black ash and red maple are present, as are a few scattered ephemeral ponds. On hummocky, rolling terrain is a hemlock-dominated old-growth forest with super-canopy white and red pine, large snags, and coarse woody debris.Īssociated hardwoods include sugar maple, yellow birch, paper birch, and basswood. Drummond Woods contains older growth northern mesic hardwoods with a significant hemlock component, often with diameters up to 40 inches.
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