🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi,

Only Japanese maples grow in SF bay area, not full-grown ones like I used
to enjoy when I lived in New England (Connecticut) and the Midwest
(Illinois).

I think the trees you want are Liquidambar which have star-shaped or
maple-shaped leaves and turn beautiful colors in the fall.  The seed pods
are the clue to identification.  If the seeds look like winged paper toys,
they are maples. If the seeds look like hard brown thorny meatballs with
open holes filled with seeds, the trees are Liquidambar styraciflua (aka
Sweetgum, commonly seen in Southeast and milder climates in in the U.S.)

We have these glorious deciduous trees lining the street in our
neighborhood.  They're messy, but beautiful and worth planting for their
fall colors, nice shade in summer, and quaint seed pods which hang on to
attract birds in the winter.

Shirley Lin Kinoshita
keethieDRAT@keethie.net wrote:

> Hi, I'm trying to find out what kind of lovely autumnal deciduous trees
> those are growing on the Foothill Junior College campus. I'm pretty sure
> they are some kind of maple. Over the past couple of weeks, their leaves
> looked almost like they're lit from inside. like neon lights. I'd like
> to buy my spouse a sapling for Xmas. Can anyone help me?
>
> --
> Remove "DRAT" in response to that