In my haste the other day, I forgot to mention another native species with blooms evident in the forest: red maple. The tight red buds clustered at the end of branches have opened into sprays of white stamens or pistils, depending on whether the flower is male or female. It's easy to forget that most of our deciduous trees are technically "flowering plants" because the seeds are more noticeable than the flowers. Maybe this is because the seeds fall to our level, whereas one might not notice flowers high up in branches if they weren't already looking up through binoculars. Primarily wind-pollinated, red maple blooms before the canopy leafs out and impedes air flow, which also makes the event easier to observe. in a complex ecosystem such as the northeastern forest, resources such as light, pollinators and air space have many users. One way many organisms avoid competition is through timing.