MOUNTAIN MAPLE LEAVES LIGHT UP THE AUTUMN WOODS LIKE A LANTERN ON A FOGGY MORNING

FOGGY MORNING

MOUNTAIN MAPLE LEAF...

...SHINNING LIKE A LANTERN IN THE AUTUMN WOODS...

...BUT IT WAS A SUNNY MORNING YESTERDAY

Thursday, 7:30 am.  42 degrees at the ferry dock, 38 on the back porch.  A heavy fog has crept up the bluff from the lake.  The humidity is 96% and the barometer is heading down, now at 29.86".
   The mountain maple, Acer spicatum, is a shrubby to small tree native to cool woods of eastern Canada and the northern Midwest.  It has a three-lobed leaf somewhat similar to that of a red maple.  It's species name refers to the showy,  upright spikes of small yellow flowers which it bears in the spring, which are followed by typical maple winged nutlets that are red or yellow in color.  But its main appeal is its pumpkin-orange fall leaves, which light up the autumn woods like a lantern.
   I don't see many mountain maples in our Bayfield area woods, but it is reportedly a large portion of the woods understory in Upper Peninsula Michigan.  I don't see it offered by nurseries, which is a shame, as it would be a fine plant for naturalizing.