This tree is a red maple; unlike the sugar maple it does not mind “wet feet,” so we find it here along the wetland. Notice the red color of the new stems that attach this year’s leaves to the twig. One of the first signs of spring are the red flowers on this type of maple. And, in the fall, its leaves turn a beautiful red (sugar maple leaves turn orange). On the opposite side of the trail from the red maple are several sweetferns. They are the low plants with 2 to 3-inch rows of tiny quarter-inch leaflets. Crush them in your fingers and smell them; early Londonderry residents used sweetfern to make a tea.
Londonderry Trailways 