One of the most beautiful things to see in fall wetlands is the orange-red colors of autumn leaves from the red maple tree. This tree’s buds and flowers are red, its two-winged sumara are red tinged and it has red petioles. Red maple is also called swamp maple because it grows in wet woodlands and freshwater wetlands from the mid-west to the east coast. On New York’s Long Island it often grows alongside tupelo trees that also thrive in wetlands.