I think the sex/gender distinction is increasingly common but they still overlap a lot in general usage. I think whether you can use human senses of gedner for non-human beings is sort of up for debate; I would say mostly no since gender is culturally defined, although there may be other lifeforms with other cultures that might have something like our gender. (There have been some primate studies that suggest this might not be too far off for them, in particular, that are cited in a Lorber paper called "Neither Nature Nor Nurture" that I don't have time to dig up further right now.)

Also I didn't know the red maple was the state tree of RI! Well, I'm sure I memorized it in second grade or something, but then forgot.

Plant sexuality is way more interesting than animal sexuality, but... plants. :P (And google says "lay genderhead" is just me, so thank you!)