Flowering Maple

To many of you, this might look like a Hibiscus.  But it's not.  Where I live there are tons of hibiscus, all colors and shapes.  We don't have maple trees or anything close, only Canadians when they come to the desert in the winter.  But this is a prime example why flowers are not used to identify plants.  It the leaves and leaf structure that a botanist looks at to truly make an identification.  This is one of many flowering maples I saw at the botanical gardens in Spokane.  And they come in a wide range of colors.

"Flowering Maple"    © Kathy Dunham 2010