Class XXIII. Orter I. 



the margin, glaucous underneath; flowers pedim 

 ciliated, pendent. Mich. f. 



The Rock Maple, though common in the interior, is rarely 

 met with in the vicinity of Boston. Some young trees occur in 

 the woods at Roxbury. The flowers of this species are yellow- 

 ish, small, and supported by slender, drooping footstalks. The 

 fruit is larger than in the Red Maple, and of a light greenish col- 

 our. The leaves have three or five principal lobes, separated 

 by a sinus or notch, which is rounded, not angular, at bottom. 

 They are pale, and sometimes downy on the under side. 



The wood is hard, compact, and smooth. It is much used 

 in cabinet work, particularly a beautiful variety denominated 

 Bird's eye Maple, and a curled variety like that in the last spe- 

 cies. It makes good fuel, though inferior to walnut and oak ; 

 and, with the Betula papyracea, it constitutes a greater portion 

 of our eastern wood. 



But the peculiar value of this tree consists in the sugar, 

 which is obtained from its sap. A tree of the ordinary size will 

 yield from twenty to thirty gallons of sap in a season. This 

 sap is collected by boring holes in the trees, and affixing to 

 them small troughs, which convey it into reservoirs prepared 

 for its reception. It is then put into large kettles and boiled 

 down, until it is sufficiently inspissated to chrystallize or grain. 

 It thus forms the raw sugar, which may be purified in the usu- 

 al way. 



282. NYSSA. 

 NYSSA. VILLOSA. Mich. Tupelo tree. Swamp Hornbeam. 



Leaves oval, entire, the petiole, middle nerve, 

 and margin villous ; fertile stalks about three flow- 

 ered ; nut short-obovate, obtusely striate. Mich. 



This tree grows in swamps, and is frequently of a pyramid- 

 al form, with horizontal branches. The leaves are oval, entire, 

 acute, tough and firm, paler on the under side, slightly pubes- 



