Acer rubrum - red maple (scarlet maple)
The colourful red maple is native to the eastern parts of North America in moist rich broadleaf and mixed forests along waterways. It is also a valued park tree with several selected forms and cultivars in America. The species blossoms with red flowers before the leaves break, these being at first reddish, with silvery or blue-grey undersides. New shoots are also red. Autumn colours are showy, from golden yellow through orange and scarlet to a deep purplish red. For best colour it prefers full sun.