Favoritos de superluminal

Possibly the only stand of Acer grandidentatum in Navajo County, but there could be pockets below the Mogollon Rim on the White Mountain Apache tribal lands. No other records on SEINet plant database or on iNaturalist of this species for Navajo County. Probably a seep here to sustain this species (besides northern aspect). I stumbled upon this grove by seeing satellite imagery on the Gaia Maps app that must’ve been taken in autumn, showing the red, orange, and yellow foliage on a clump of trees here. Most are <6-7m tall, would’ve burned over during the Rodeo-Chediski Fire of 2002, then regenerated since. The patch isn’t visible when driving down the road, you need to navigate to the approximate coordinates, park on the shoulder, and then hike down the north-facing slope about 100ft. through the Gambel oaks and New Mexico locusts that the maples are interspersed with.

Other observations from this patch:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290217
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290513
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290605
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139290717
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139291727

These two trees are much older than the previous observation, but had their leaves at such height that, even at magnification, were less convenient for viewing. On the other hand, their large trunks and canopy-height upper branches tell their own stories.

The morphology of the leaves speaks of introgression between Acer rubrum and Acer saccharinum, but that event happened in a past very distant, for no natural Acer sacccharinum occur in this region. These are descendants of an ancient introgression that has been distilled by the sands of time.

see also: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/73510911

Small groves in ravines on SE slope of Los Pinos Peak. Receiving snow around 4000' feet. ID based on form. Bigcone Douglas Fir and Coulter Pine are the main conifer tree species found around these elevations in the Santa Ana Mountains.