Keys To The Season

Day 299: The keys are ripening on the Vine Maple now, the seeds swelling within the husks and preparing to launch an armada of "helicopters" to the ground. When the leaves of Acer circinatum turn color in the Autumn, they can vary from a boring transition from yellow to brown, or may be brilliantly vermilion or scarlet, depending on the climatic conditions leading into summer's close. Certain species of edible wild mushroom prefer a habitat rich in decaying Vine Maple leaves, so mushroom enthusiasts know to look for bright red patches on hillsides and stream banks. Not yet! But Vine Maple holds the keys to the mushrooming season.