488 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



oblong, brown dots ; in the second year, they become finely 

 striate with brown, and the dots enlarge. Afterwards, they 

 assume the ash or granite gray of the trunk. The bark con- 

 tinues smooth until the tree has attained a considerable size ; in 

 old trees the trunk is rough with oblong scales, several inches 

 in length and free at one end or both. The branches are large, 

 gradually expanding as they ascend, but sometimes pendulous, 

 somewhat in the manner of those of the elm. 



The flowers come out early in April, before the leaves. The 

 male flowers are in close, abundant, crowded whorls, on long 

 footstalks. The stamens are about 6. The female flowers are 

 somewhat less crowded. The stigma is short. The two kinds 

 of flowers are sometimes intermingled. The pedicel of the 

 female flower afterwards lengthens. The mature seed-vessels, 

 or samaroe, cohere at a somewhat large angle ; they are thick, 

 and nearly two inches in length ; when young, covered with 

 yellowish hairs, but afterwards becoming nearly smooth. 



The leaves, on long and slender footstalks, are often five or 

 six inches long and four or five wide, deeply divided, usually 

 into 5, sometimes into but 3, long lobes, tapering to a long point, 

 each somewhat 3-lobed and deeply and sharply cut into slender 

 teeth. The notches between the lobes are formed as if by two 

 circles intersecting each other. The under surface of the leaves 

 is of a silvery whiteness. The last formed leaves are remark- 

 ably and beautifully cut. The young leaves are covered with 

 a brownish pubescence, but at length become entirely smooth. 



The wood of the White Maple, is soft, white, and fine-grained, 

 but with little strength, and very perishable. It is therefore 

 little used where almost any other wood can be found. Its sap 

 contains sugar, but far less abundantly than the Sugar Maple. 

 The bark may be used with the salts of iron to form a black 

 dye. 



The beauty of the finely cut foliage, the contrast between the 

 rich green of the upper surface of the leaves and the silver 

 color of the lower, and the magnificent spread of the limbs of 

 the White Maple, recommend it as an ornamental tree ; and it 

 has been extensively introduced in New York, Philadelphia 

 and some other cities. 



