Red Maple Leaf

Maple leaf

The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is used as the national symbol of Canada.

Acer rubrum

Acer rubrum, the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is a North American tree species. Many of its features, especially its deciduous leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity, it often attains a height around 30 metres (100 ft). Its flowers, petioles, twigs, and seeds are all red to varying degrees.

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. There are approximately 132 species, most of which are native to East Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends to the Southern Hemisphere. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus, one of the most common maple species in Europe. Most maples have easily identifiable palmate leaves and all share distinctive winged fruits. The closest relative of the maples is the small east Asian genus Dipteronia, followed by the more widespread genus Aesculus. Maple syrup is made from the sap of some maple species. It is one of the most common genera of trees in Asia. Many maple species are grown in gardens where they are valued for their autumn colour and often decorative foliage, some also for their attractive flowers, fruit, or bark.

Leaf

A leaf is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the shoot system. In most leaves, the primary photosynthetic tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf, but in some species, including the mature foliage of Eucalyptus, palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. The leaf is an integral part of the stem system, and most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, hairiness, the number of stomata, the amount and structure of epicuticular wax, and other features. Leaves are mostly green in color due to the presence of a compound called chlorophyll, which is essential for photosynthesis as it absorbs light energy from the Sun. A leaf with lighter-colored or white patches or edges is called a variegated leaf.

red

Noun

1. The color of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the color which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive color.
2. A revolutionary socialist or (most commonly) a Communist; a Bolshevik, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

Adjective

1. Of a red hue.
2. Having an orange-brown or orange-blond colour; ginger.

maple

Noun

1. Any member of any species of genus Acer, characterized by (usually) palmate, five-lobed leaves and winged seeds, and often grown for syrup or wood
2. A small tree (Acer campestre), known as the common maple, field maple, or hedge maple, which has palmate leaves with five lobes and winged seeds, and is chiefly native to East Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.

Adjective

1. Of the light-brown colour of the wood of a maple tree (etymology 1, noun sense 3).
2. Of the flavour of, or made with, maple syrup.

leaf

Noun

1. The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
2. A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.

Verb

1. To produce leaves; put forth foliage.
2. To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves.