I grew up never realizing trees flowered. I’m still learning much about them. This is the time of year to enjoy seeing and learning. As my biologist friend Bernd Heinrich says, “The trees are having sex!”
The Boxelder Maple (Acer negundo) is a native tree throughout much of the country where it is also often considered a “weed tree.” These are the flowers and the beginnings of the leaves. The seeds, typical maple “helicopters,” will follow soon.
The female flowers of this Boxelder Maple are on the right and the male flowers on the left. New leaves are already well underway and seeds will follow shortly.
Still Learning To See 
What an amazing picture–with different coloring, this could be a deep sea creature with myriad tentacles! Thanks–closeups really allow me to see things that my own eyes would miss.
I like the idea of integration that this represents of something we more commonly think of as seperate.