SOAPBERRY FAMILY. 91 



stamens not exceeding the connivent light yellow petals, these of two dissimilar 

 pairs, the longer pair with very small blade ; fruit smooth. 



Var. purpurascens, PURPLISH B., has both calyx and corolla tinged 

 with purple or reddish, and leaflets generally downy underneath. 



JE. Pavia, RED BUCKEYE. S. & W. ; shrub or low tree, like the last, 

 but leaves generally smooth ; the longer and tubular calyx and the petals bright 

 red : showy in cultivation. 



6. ACER, MAPLE. (The classical Latin name.) Mostly fine trees. 



* Flowers in fate spring or early summer, appearing more or less later than the 



leaves, in usually drooping racemes or corymbs, commonly terminating a 

 2 - 4-leaved shoot of the season, greenish or yellowish, with petals : stamens 

 more than 5, generally 8. 



*- EUROPEAN MAPLES, planted for ornament and shade. 



A. Pseudo-PlatanilS, SYCAMORE M. A fine tree, with spreading 

 branches, ample 5-lobed leaves whitish and rather downy beneath, on long 

 reddish petioles, the lobes toothed, long racemes, and moderately spreading 

 wings to the pubescent fruit. 



A. platanoides, NORWAY M., here so called. A handsome, round- 

 headed tree, with thin and broad smooth leaves, bright green both sides, their 

 5 short lobes set with 2-5 coarse and taper-pointed teeth, a small corymb of 

 flowers, and flat smooth fruit with wings 2' long, diverging in a straight line. 

 Juice milky leaves holding green later than the others. 



*- - OREGON and CALIFORNIAN MAPLES, beginning to be planted East. 



A. circinatum, ROUND-LEAVED or VINE M. Tall, spreading shrub with 

 thin and rounded moderately 7 - 9-lobed leaves, their lobes serrate, small corymbs 

 of purplish flowers, and wings of fruit diverging in a straight line. 



A. macroph^Hum, LARGE-LEAVED M. Small timber-tree, with thick- 

 ish leaves 6'- 12' across and deeply 5 - 7-lobed, the lobes with one or two sinuate 

 lobes or coarse teeth, many yellowish flowers in a compact raceme, and hairy 

 fruit with ascending wings. 



*-- -i- NATIVE STRIPED and MOUNTAIN MAPLES. 



A. spicatum, MOUNTAIN M. Tall shrub, common N., with slightly 3- 

 lobed and coarsely toothed leaves downy beneath, and upright dense racemes of 

 small flowers, followed by small fruits with diverging narrow wings. The latest- 

 flowering species. 



A. Pennsylvanicum, STRIPED M., also called MOOSE-WOOD and 

 STRIPED DOGWOOD. Small tree, common N., with light-green bark striped 

 with darker lines, large thin leaves finely sharply serrate all round, and at the 

 end with 3 short and very taper-pointed lobes, slender hanging racemes of rather 

 large green flowei-s, and fruit with diverging wings. 



* # SUGAR MAPLES. Flowers appearing with the leaves in spring, in umbel- 



like clusters, on long drooping pedicels, greenish-yellow, icithout petals : sta- 

 mens 7 or 8. 



A. saccharinum, ROCK or SUGAR M. Large tree, common especially 

 N., valuable for timber and for the sugar of its sap ; with rather deeply 3 - 5- 

 lobed leaves pale or whitish beneath, the sinuses open and rounded, and the lobes 

 with one or two sinuate coarse teeth ; calyx bell-shaped and hairy-fringed ; 

 wings of fruit ascending, barely 1' long. 



Var. nigrum, BLACK SUGAR M., a form with leaves green or greener 

 and more or less downy beneath, even when old, the sinus at the base apt to be 

 deep and narrow. 



* * * SOFT MAPLES. Flmvers. in earliest spring, much preceding the leaves, in 



umbel-like clusters from separate lateral buds : pedicels at first short, the 

 fruiting ones lengthening and drooping : stamens 3 6 : fruit ripe and fall- 

 ing in early summer. 



A. dasycarpum, WHITB or SILVER M. A handsome tree in low 

 grounds, with long and spreading or drooping branches, soft white wood, very 



