Maple flame???

[Eduardo Barbosa]

I've noticed that for the last 10 years or so basses made in China have more and more some real nice flamed maple.
Please forgive me if my question is dumb, but I don't know the first thing about wood.
I recently contacted a reputable bass shop to ask them about the flames. I noticed that the grain of the wood is going one way, (in this case vertical), but the flames are horizontal!
is that normal? are those normal maple patterns?
or is that a treatment of the wood, finish, varnish, etc. to make the instrument visually more appealing?
Thank you.