Part 57

FRUIT.--May-June, germinating immediately after reaching the ground; samaras small, on drooping pedicels 2-4 inches long; wings about 1 inch long, diverging at about a right angle.

WINTER-BUDS.--Dark red, blunt; terminal bud about 1/8 inch long, with bud-scales rounded at the apex; flower-buds clustered on side spurs.

BARK.--Twigs bright red, lustrous, becoming smooth and light gray on the branches; old trunks dark gray, ridged, separating into plate-like scales.

WOOD.--Heavy, close-grained, not strong, light brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Throughout the entire state.

HABITAT.--Prefers swamp-lands or banks of streams; rarely found on hillsides.

NOTES.--A valuable shade and ornamental tree. Sugar has been made in small quantities from the sap.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Leaf, × 1/2. 3. Raceme of staminate flowers, × 1/2. 4. Staminate flower, enlarged. 5. Raceme of pistillate flowers, × 1/2. 6. Pistillate flower, enlarged. 7. Fruit, × 1/2.]

+ACERACEAE+

+Norway Maple+

Acer platanoides L.

HABIT.--A tall, handsome tree, with a height of 40-60 feet, and a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet, having a round, spreading crown of stout branches, resembling A. saccharum. Twigs coarse.

LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 5-7 inches broad, and almost as long; thin; 5-7-lobed at maturity, lobes remotely coarse-toothed with the teeth drawn out into filamentous points, separated by rounded, scallop-like sinuses; glabrous, bright green both sides, turning pale yellow in autumn; petioles long, slender, exuding a milky juice when cut.

FLOWERS.--May-June, before or with the leaves; dioecious; large, yellow-green, in erect, short, flat racemes; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 8.

FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn and germinates the following spring; pendent on long stalks; large, glabrous, paired samaras, with wings 2 inches long, diverging by nearly 180°.

WINTER-BUDS.--Yellow-green, red or dull red-brown; terminal bud about 1/4 inch long, broad, short-stalked, with bud-scales strongly keeled; lateral buds small, appressed; buds exuding a milky juice when cut.

BARK.--Twigs lustrous, light brown to greenish; trunk dark gray, becoming closely fissured, not scaly.

WOOD.--Moderately heavy, hard, close-grained, whitish or brownish, with white sapwood.

NOTES.--Exotic from Europe. Extensively planted in cities for its abundant shade. The roots strike deep and spread laterally, enabling the tree to hold its own in a city environment. It holds its leaves two weeks longer in autumn than do our native maples. A rapid grower.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Leaf, × 1/2. 3. Flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 4. Staminate flower, enlarged. 5. Perfect flower, enlarged. 6. Fruit, × 1/2.]

+ACERACEAE+

+Sycamore Maple+

Acer pseudo-platanus L.

HABIT.--A thrifty tree 50-60 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet; the crown roundish, spreading.

LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 4-7 inches across, and as long as broad; thick; pentagonally 5-lobed, the lobes more or less ovate, separated by very narrow, acute sinuses extending about half-way to the midrib, the lobes coarsely and irregularly blunt-serrate, crenate-serrate, or slightly lobed; upper surface dark green and shining, somewhat wrinkled, but paler dull green and glaucous beneath; petioles long, stout.

FLOWERS.--April, before the leaves; polygamo-monoecious; large, greenish yellow, in pendent racemes of umbellate cymes of about three each; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 8, hairy; ovary hairy.

FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn and germinates the following spring; pendent on long stalks; large, glabrous, paired samaras, with wings 1-1/2 inches long, diverging at about a right angle.

WINTER-BUDS.--Bright green; terminal bud 1/4-1/2 inch long, ovoid to subglobose, blunt, with bud-scales more or less keeled; lateral buds small, divergent.