Japanese Maple

This may look like an autumn shot, but the date is correct. New leaves in the spring are red and then change to green. I thought this shot looked a bit surreal or edited, but it's SOOC with only a name added.

“The distinctive fruit are called samaras or ‘maple keys’. These seeds, or ‘whirlybirds,’ occur in distinctive pairs each containing one seed enclosed in a ‘nutlet’ attached to a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue. They are shaped to spin as they fall and to carry the seeds a considerable distance on the wind. Children often call them ‘helicopters’ due to the way that they spin as they fall.” — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple

These are bright red even now as the leaves are changing to green.

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Acer_palmatum&rank=binomial

[Wendy]

Gorgeous shot! Love the colors and the angle is great! Very well done!

[Rona]

Beautiful shot! I love the tinge of green that tells you they're changing.

[Michelle]

beautiful photo... Loving the warm colours

[Rick Schies]

Nice burst of color.

[Cindy Kutchey]

Really like the tones here! It does look fall-like! Very nice!

[cohare]

This is beautiful. The Japanese maple is my favorite tree.

[Jen Dee]

Fantastic! It does look fallish!

[Thom Mitchell]

@cohare My "raindrop tree," http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-02-01
was a Japanese maple. Does your new house have at least one?