Blooms Of Red Maple

March 30, 2026

Early spring and the Red Maple trees (Acer Rubrum) are taking their place in the roll out of blooms, painting the woods with a blush of many shades of red and red-orange.

These trees produce unpredictable flowers, some with all female flowers, some with all male flowers, and still other trees have a mix, with both male and female flowers. And sometimes during the year a tree will switch from producing one sex to producing the other, or switch to a mix.

Within a few weeks of blooming, samaras or helicopters appear, dispersing at about the same time the trees begin to leaf out.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.