It’s always a treat to come across turkey tail mushrooms growing on tree stumps.

I came across two clusters this week; this is the most colourful one, even though it is only various browns edged with white.

With the scientific name of Trametes versicolor, this is one of the most studied of the fungi. It is saprotropic, which means it decomposes what it grows on–wood. Turkey tail is well known in traditional health practices in China and Japan, because it benefits our immune health.

In Vancouver, 9,800 red maples have been planted as street trees, 755 as the cultivar Acer rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’ (red flowers) and 2,531 as A. rubrum ‘Bowhall’ (orange flowers). Red maple is particularly beautiful in the fall because of its gorgeously coloured leaves. If the Urban Forestry team of Vancouver’s Park Board plants more of these medium-sized, reliable trees, these numbers will be quite wrong. So, these numbers are as of March 14, 2026.

Here is an A. rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’ growing near the Joe Fortes Branch of the Vancouver Public Library in the West End.

Most people never notice the flowers because they are so tiny. So, let’s take a closer look at a cluster of tiny flowers on an A. rubrum ‘Bowhall’ street tree.

And finally a spring favourite: forsythia. Of course its yellow flowers are not tiny, just small, but they are a definite sign of spring being on its way, despite the cold and snowy weather we are going through.