The Woodland Understory Aglow!

 

It's a magical time in the woods right now, as the Striped Maple trees (Acer pensylvanicum) can be seen throughout the understory raising their large candle-flame buds vertically from spreading branches, so the woodlands almost seem to be strung with Christmas lights. 

The fat pink-blushed buds, emerging from deep-red budscales, are napped with down-fine hairs that reflect the light with a pearlescent glow. And the branches themselves have a beauty all their own, often colored a deep maroon or a forest green,  braceleted with pale rings along their length. 

In early spring, the terminal twigs of Striped Maples are topped with three-lobed pearlescent buds emerging from deep-red scales. They remind me of royal scepters.

In just a week or so, those fat pink buds will open to release the large green baby leaves.

And then it will look as if flocks of green-winged pink birds were flitting through the forest:

As summer arrives, greenish-yellow Striped Maple flowers will dangle and dance in the breeze, as lovely as the ornaments in a geisha's elaborate hairdo.

Dangling clusters of seeds are soon to follow, providing a generous source of food for many woodland animals.

Next come the yellow Striped Maple leaves in the fall, so bright that even on dark rainy autumn days, the forest seems to glow as if bathed in sunlight.

Even the bark of Striped Maple trees offer surprising color, like these radiant blue stripes in the otherwise grayish bark of a young specimen. There's a reason this Acer species acquired the vernacular name of Striped Maple.

But the biggest surprise about the Striped Maple is the startlingly vivid scarlet its branches sometimes turn in the winter.  Not every specimen of this tree displays this remarkable color, truly vibrant against the snowy woods.  But I know of thickets where every single tree demonstrates this trait.  It's truly something to see!

I hope this post has made it obvious that Striped Maple is truly a gorgeous understory tree in every season.  But to me, it reaches its peak of marvelousness right now in early spring, before the surrounding trees and shrubs leaf out to hide its branches, those branches now adorned by big pink pearlescent buds. Go look for it now, and be prepared to be stunned by its elegance.