Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Sugar Maple seedling question, 1 by shortleaf

shortleaf wrote:
I hate to rain on it too but I've seen several seedlings that looked quite a bit different than the species of tree. For example, the seedling's leaves might be a brilliant color, they might be larger, or they might appear to be evergreen when it's a deciduous tree. Here's a Shumard Oak that at the time so appeared to be evergreen I was about to call the Smithsonian! But, it soon lost it's leaves, it was about this time that I realized that seedlings can really vary. I've had a Bur Oak seedling for another example that was a brilliant red in the Fall and I thought I hit the jackpot but it too became the colors of a normal Bur Oak in the Fall.
Here's that "evergreen" Shumard Oak seedling. -