Sugar maple, birch, chestnut, white pine, white oak and red maple were also common. These include poplars, willows, red maple, silver maple and green ash. This was followed by "The Red Maple Leaf" in 2016. Examples include Japanese red maple and Japanese black pine. A wreath around the shield is composed of red maple leaves bound with gold straps. Larger vessels display a red maple leaf on the funnel. The sun is represented by a red maple leaf, a symbol of Canada. The area features yellow birch, red maple, blue beech, and skunk cabbage. Red maple is one of the first species to start stem elongation. White oak, red maple (Acer rubrum), and sugar maple are subdominant species. Red maple produces one of the smallest seeds of any of the maples. Hardwood forests also include yellow birch, sugar and red maple, eastern hemlock, and black cherry. Cherry, red maple, black birch, and sugar maple became common species in the understory. The red maple is used as a food source by several forms of wildlife. Red maple is far more abundant today than when Europeans first arrived in North America.