Class XXIII. Order L 



The root of this plant, when taken internally, produces vio- 

 lent effects, and is dangerous in considerable quantities. It is 

 chiefly used in the country as an external application in cutane- 

 ous affections. From its great affinity in habit to the Veratrum 

 album, an European species, which has lately acquired consid- 

 erable celebrity as a remedy in gout ; the American plant is 

 particularly entitled to the attention of phsiycians. 



281. ACER. 

 ACER RUBRUJI. L. Sivamp Maple. Heel Maple. 



Leaves palmate-live lobed, unequally toothed, 

 pubescent, and at length glaucous underneath, the 

 sinuses acute ; fertile flowers aggregate, with rath- 

 er long stalks. Mich. 



This maple grows plentifully in our swamps and low woods. 

 The flowers, which appear early in May, are small, numerous, 

 of a deep red, and collected in little fascicles or sessile umbels. 

 The fertile ones are succeeded by a red fruit, known by the 

 name of maple keys, consisting of a pair of small capsules, each 

 terminated by a long, membranous appendage, resembling the 

 wing of an insect. The leaves are opposite, rounded, or 

 hearted at base, and divided into three or five principal lobes, 

 separated by a large, acute notch. They are irregularly tooth- 

 ed, and glaucous underneath. 



The wood of this species is close grained, smooth, and hard, 

 It is much used in the manufacture of tables, chairs, and other 

 kinds of furniture. A variety denominated Curled Maple, oc- 

 casioned by the serpentine course of the fibres in some old 

 trees, has a beautiful, shaded appearance in cabinet work, and 

 is also used for gun stocks, on account of its solidity and tough- 

 ness. 



ACER SACCHARIUM. L. Rock Maple. Sugar Maple, 



leaves five parted-palmate, glabrous, entire n! 



