March 13, 2004
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) Flowers

Silver maples and all other broadleaved trees are flowering
plants (angiosperms), as are daisies and roses. The flowers
of most trees do not have showy petals or sweet aromas with
which to attract insects and birds because they are wind pollinated.

Silver maple trees have male and female reproductive parts
on separate flowers. The flowers in this photo are male: the
pollen-coated anthers are visible as greenish bumps on the tips
of the white-stalked stamens.