The prettiest tree in the forest was a scraggly little maple, hardly bigger than a redbud. But it was a picture of the progression of autumn. Its top was flame red, and as your eyes came down the tree you could see oranges, yellows and then greens. From top to bottom, you could see a thousand shades.
I had to go stand next to it, though the Wise Woman, concerned about snakes, fussed at me for getting off the trail.
I’m half convinced that the gorgeous little tree was a bigtooth maple, Acer grandidentatum.
But I’m not a botanist. And if it and its kin really are western sugar maples, they are a long way from home.
You see Acer grandidentatum in Central Texas, which is part of my range. The field guide says you can see those lovely trees in spots along an arc through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Idaho.
Bigtooth maples grow west of the Mississippi, but Georgia is full of gardeners, and I suspect that some ornamental trees have escaped. You see all kinds of maples, many from Japan, around here.
I’m muddled, and the only cure is to become more familiar with the natives.
If you’re curious, the common natives are red maple, A. rubrum, and Southern sugar maple, A. floridanum. We also have chalkbark maple, A. leucoderme, and sugar maple, A. saccharum.
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