Bigleaf Maple
Bigleaf Maple in Autumn
Bigleaf Maple
Stately, spreading
Shouting autumn’s arrival
With hands of golden yellow
Brash and bold
Nurturing, enduring
Beauty of the forest
The Bigleaf Maple is the Mae West of the woods. It is dramatic, large and lovely in all its seasons. The huge leaves that distinguish it have five to seven lobes. Some leaves can be up to two hands in breadth. They give marvelous shade and rain cover when nestled among the Western Red Cedars, hemlocks and alders. Their yellow luster in autumn blankets the woods with gold, overhead and underfoot. Walking the path over these leaves is following the yellow brick road with Dorothy and her friends, scampering through Oz. While a back breaking bane to gardeners in the urban yard, children love to pile them and jump into them. Under foot, their crunch and crackle sounds exactly right on a crisp morning as the nights of the Northwest begin to lengthen.
The Bigleaf Maples also send out helicopter pods as fruit. They swirl as they tumble and again can add to children’s play. Picking them up and giving them a twirl, adults do not forget either. A bit like rock skipping at the beach, some urges of spontaneity forge a continuous link with childhood. The bark of their trunks is lighter than the evergreens. Noticeably different in winter when its canopy of green has disappeared in a burst of yellow glory. Prized for guitars, thieves seek to destroy them for the beauty of the grain of their wood. A burdensome pest to homeowners, the Bigleaf maple can brag and boast continuously when given space in the woods. At home amongst other natives, its canopy encourages the young cedars and its leaf mold keeps roots warmed for the coming of long nights and stormy days of winter. Some in the human landscape also have the need to seek the right setting, surrounded by a supportive community, to perform at their peak!
“Imagine what it would be like to live in a world where you are more concerned about what you have to offer, than what you have to hide.” Anonymous
Stately, spreading
Shouting autumn’s arrival
With hands of golden yellow
Brash and bold
Nurturing, enduring
Beauty of the forest
The Bigleaf Maple is the Mae West of the woods. It is dramatic, large and lovely in all its seasons. The huge leaves that distinguish it have five to seven lobes. Some leaves can be up to two hands in breadth. They give marvelous shade and rain cover when nestled among the Western Red Cedars, hemlocks and alders. Their yellow luster in autumn blankets the woods with gold, overhead and underfoot. Walking the path over these leaves is following the yellow brick road with Dorothy and her friends, scampering through Oz. While a back breaking bane to gardeners in the urban yard, children love to pile them and jump into them. Under foot, their crunch and crackle sounds exactly right on a crisp morning as the nights of the Northwest begin to lengthen.
The Bigleaf Maples also send out helicopter pods as fruit. They swirl as they tumble and again can add to children’s play. Picking them up and giving them a twirl, adults do not forget either. A bit like rock skipping at the beach, some urges of spontaneity forge a continuous link with childhood. The bark of their trunks is lighter than the evergreens. Noticeably different in winter when its canopy of green has disappeared in a burst of yellow glory. Prized for guitars, thieves seek to destroy them for the beauty of the grain of their wood. A burdensome pest to homeowners, the Bigleaf maple can brag and boast continuously when given space in the woods. At home amongst other natives, its canopy encourages the young cedars and its leaf mold keeps roots warmed for the coming of long nights and stormy days of winter. Some in the human landscape also have the need to seek the right setting, surrounded by a supportive community, to perform at their peak!
“Imagine what it would be like to live in a world where you are more concerned about what you have to offer, than what you have to hide.” Anonymous
