Red Maple Flowers

     One of many pleasant memories I have of spring here in southeastern Pennsylvania is hearing choruses of male spring peeper frogs peeping and male American toads trilling from pond edges and soggy wetlands on rainy, early-April days and warm April evenings under red canopies of red maple flowers in bottomland woods.  Those ancient, amphibian songs under the glow of red in the tree tops is enjoyable and inspiring.  And those interesting amphibian concerts and beautiful red flowers together signify that spring has arrived and there is no going back to winter, not that I want to.
     The squeaking of male purple grackles and songs of male American robins add more intrigue to the red tree tops.  And upon looking up, one can see a small group of grackles among red maple flowers or a couple of robins in the red of those blossoms.  Those species of birds will nest somewhere near the red maples.   
     The lovely male flowers of red maple trees are open by late in March and through the early part of April.  Each blossom in itself is small, but multitudes of them blooming together in each tree is overwhelmingly beautiful.  And, on top of that, all red maple trees bloom at once because of an inherited inner timing the species shares with all its individuals.  The result is the canopies of  bottomland woods are dominated by red maple blossoms that cast a lovely glow of red seen from a distance.  One can tell by the glow of red that the woods is growing from moist soil.   
     Red maples dominate many bottomland woods in this area because they prefer damp ground.  But this kind of maple is adaptable and can be found growing most anywhere, including the suburban areas it is planted in for the year around beauty each tree offers.  In winter red maples have red flower buds, and red twigs near those buds.  Red flowers dominate the trees in spring.  The paired, winged seeds are red and fall from the trees early in summer.  And in fall, the leaves of this species of maple turn red, again dominating wooded bottomlands with red.  There is even a red glow to the woodlands on overcast days.
    Red maples grow wild throughout the eastern United States.  They are unmistakable because of the red on them during all seasons.  And younger trees have smooth, gray bark that gets a bit rougher as they grow older.  Rodents eat their seeds and deer consume their leaves, and twigs and buds in winter.     Try to get out early in April to see the lovely, red flowers of red maple trees.  And you might hear the timeless choruses of frogs and toads while seeing red maple blooms in moist woods.