What is it Wednesday: February 16, 2022

 

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

February 16, 2022.

And the answer is....

 

 

This leaf is not only red-colored, it is the leaf of a red maple tree. 

We have red maples on our minds, because it is maple sugaring season and at Lutherlyn the trees we tap for making maple syrup here are all red maples. Sugar maples have the most sugar in their sap, as the name implies, but red maples also have enough sugar in the sap to effectively make syrup. 

You can tell the difference between red maple leaves and sugar maple leaves by paying attention to some details. Red maple leaves generally have three main lobes - sugar maple leaves have five main lobes (picture the Canadian flag). The space between the lobes (known as the sinus) is v-shaped in red maples, and in sugar maples is more u-shaped. And the most reliable difference is that red maple leaves have serrated edges, while sugar maple leaves are smooth-edged between points.

Leaf shapes, however, are rather variable! You can sometimes find sugar maple leaves that have sinuses that are closer to v-shaped; and red maple leaves that have small points on the bottom of the leaf on each side – does that count as three or five lobes? And of course – leaves are not present on the trees year-round! So looking at the leaves is not always the best way to distinguish the type of tree.

The answer is in the name: Red! The leaves of red maples turn a bright red in the fall (as in this photo) but also the leaf stems, ends of the twigs, and the buds of red maples are all distinctly red. The twigs and buds of sugar maples are brown. Red maples are the most abundant and most widespread tree species in North America. They can grow in a wide variety of habitats, even in areas that are too wet for other trees to thrive, including sugar maples.

At our maple sugaring Saturday Safaris, participants learn other tricks for winter tree id as well – you need to know how to pick out a maple tree (whether it's sugar or red) from all the other trees in a forest so you know which ones to tap! We also include tapping trees, collecting sap, watching the process of making sap into syrup, and of course tasting syrup! The maple sugaring Saturday Safari is always the first Saturday in March, but maple sugaring experiences at Lutherlyn are available for school field trips and scout groups too. Check out www.Lutherlyn.com/ee  for info on these and other LEEP events!  

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!