Maples

 I was out looking for a particular brown lichen that grows on trees and spotted some on a tree at the edge of Newtonmore Golf Course. At first, I thought the tree was a Sycamore but on looking more closely, the leaf and flowers were  a bit different.

The flowers start off  with petals, which then close up after pollination and form little balls.

Flowers starting to form seeds

Seeds - helicopters- forming.

The leaves have long thin points. This is the Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) and there are plenty alongside the Upper Golf Course on Golf Course Road.  It is closely related to the Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) which is also in the Acer family. The Sycamore is usually a much bigger tree. here are the leaves side by side for comparison.

Norway Maple on the left, Sycamore on the right

The flowers on the Sycamore are very different as well. Instead of stalks with one flower at the end, there are up to 100 dangling down in a bunch (panicle).

Each flower has stamens (with pollen) around the outside, and the femaie parts which will form the seeds in the centre, covered with white hairs.

It is hard to see exactly what is in the centre without a bit of magnification.  It looks as though there is a central column with 3 curls on the top, which will be the stigma (the female part that is fertilised by pollen, usually by bees in this case) and then 3 protrusions which will grow into seeds with wings.

The three-fold symmetry surprised me as I thought the helicopter seeds came in twos... But maybe there are pairs and singles?  I will have to check  later in the season to find out.

And what about that brown lichen?  Well, I did find it but I am still working on the photos so that will have to be another post!