Vine Maple
Carbon River, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Vine Maple grows in the understory of an old-growth forest. The stump next to it tells the story of a fallen tree, and the opening it created probably made the growth of the vine maple possible. Old-growth forests are always changing, but it's at a pace that is hard for humans to detect; forests follow a different time scale. Photo © copyright by Stephen Penland.