Lodgepole pines after a forest fire

A few weeks ago I visited the site of the 1988 Red Bench Fire on the western edge of Glacier National Park. In an area about 15 miles north of Polebridge I came across the are in this image where the old burned out trunks of the previous forest are still standing as the new growth of Lodgepole pines form a thick bed of new growth below. This is the growth 24 years after the fire which burned in 1988. The new trees range in height from 4 - 10 feet.

Vine maple leaf

Vine maple - Acer circinatum

Characteristics...

• Shape: palmate (5 lobes)
• Margin:serrate
• Venation: palmate
• Size: 8-15 cm
• Petiole: 5-10 cm
• Color: green
• Autumn color: yellow, orange - red. 

Vine maple blog post

Sugar maple leaf

Sugar maple - tree species: Acer saccharum

Characteristics...

• Shape: palmate (3 upper lobes are pronounced, 2 basal lobes are small)
• Margin: 1-3 points per lobe
• Venation: palmate
• Size: 8 - 16 cm (width and length relatively equal)
• Petiole: 5-13 cm
• Color: green 
• Fall color: yellow to bright orange
• Deciduous

The Sugar maple is the state tree of New York, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Silver maple leaf

Tree species: Acer Saccharinum  -  Silver maple

Acer saccharinum laciniatum-leaves

Characteristics...

• Shape: palmate (5 lobes)
• Margin: serrate
• Venation: palmate
• Size: 8 - 16 cm
• Petiole: 5-13 cm
• Color: green

Alternate common names..

• creek maple 
• river maple 
• silverleaf maple 
• soft maple 
• water maple 
• white maple