Friday, November 12, 2010

Representing Their Families - Before the Leaf Blowers Return





The maples belong to the genus Acer. Around Quincy, we have many species of non-native maples as well as the two native species, the Big Leaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum, and the Mountain Maple (AKA Rocky Mountain Maple), Acer glabrum. The family, Aceraceae, takes its name from the most typical genus. Photos 1, 3 and 4, from the top, are maples around the county courthouse in Quincy. The second photo from the top is a ground cover of mostly American Sycamore, Plantanus occidentalis, of the family Plantanaceae. Literally hundreds of varieties of maples have been cultivated and some nurseries specialize in maples. They put on quite a show in and around Quincy this year. Soon the sap will mostly return to the roots and the leaf blowers will gather up the leaves to be shipped off to some burial ground so the grass will again look like Astroturf.

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