Throughout local woods, roadsides, and residential properties right now, red maples (Acer rubrum) are harbingers of spring. Their brilliant red samaras—wind driven seed pods—are loaded up on the branches. This spring and summer they will develop bright green star-shaped leaves, which give way in the fall to some of our most brilliant color. Red maple leaves often turn yellow, orange, or deep red before dropping for the winter.

When I first started learning to identify wetland tree species, I was quite surprised to see red maples listed as trees found predominantly in wetlands. I was accustomed to seeing them on the mountainsides during hiking trips to Tennessee and north Alabama. As it turns out, red maples are versatile trees that can thrive in full sun, shade, swamps, or uplands with decent soil.

Florida has a handful of native maple species, with silver maple the most similar to red. They can be differentiated by the deeper lobes and more jagged leaves of the silver maple, and the red petiole (leaf stalk) of the red maple.

Both maple species have the same adaptation for reproduction, with the seeds/fruit attached to papery wings. As a kid, my friends and I called them “helicopters,” as they spin and float like the aircraft as they fall from branches and drift in the wind. The botanical term is “samara,” which is Latin for “elm seed.” Elm trees also produce these winged fruit. Red maples are fast growing trees that can reach heights of 60-75’ tall. The tree’s seeds serve as an important food source for squirrels and many species of birds.

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