Photo Gallery of Flowers of Common Trees

The sugar maple is a staple of the midwestern landscape, known for its maple syrup and brilliant fall display. Male and female flowers grow in drooping clusters on separate branches of the same tree, consisting of yellowish stamens and stigmas on the ends of bright green stalks. Sugar maples bloom from April to June, just before leaf-out, and are pollinated by wind. Though individual flowers are inconspicuous, a blooming sugar maple is often one of the most recognizable trees in a spring landscape because of its bright green-yellow color. Although they are less common than silver maples, you can find sugar maples in Harvey Stork’s tree nursery near the lower Arboretum entrance by the West Gym.