Local Color

10/16/21 NE 83rd facing west

A leaf on the trees in the sketch above

Just a couple blocks from home, I had spotted a short row of brilliant yellow and red-orange trees that lit up the whole block (above). After sketching them, I pulled into a driveway to turn around – when I saw what had been behind me while I was sketching: An even more colorful mix (below)! I reparked in the opposite direction to catch that wall of color, too. It always pays to look around, even if you think you’re done sketching! (I’ve now added this very nearby block to my regular leaf-peeping tour.)

I snapped a photo of the leaves of the trees in the top sketch to try to identify them. My plant app suggested that it’s an Acer tataricum, or Tatarian maple. Although the leaf looks slightly different, I thought it could also be an Acer Ginnala, whose leaf I sketched last fall. It’s clearly a variety of maple, but the leaves are elongated rather than hand shaped as most maples are. Anyone know for sure?

10/16/21 NE 83rd facing east