XXXIII. THE ROCK MAPLE. 4S9 



On the banks of the Nashua, in Lancaster, below the conflu- 

 ence of the two streams, in a meadow pasture on the north 

 side, are found some old River Maples, — one, which had been 

 much injured by the ice, in the freshets of former years, mea- 

 sured, in 1840, 12 feet 9 inches at the surface, 9 feet G inches 

 at 3 feet, and 10 feet 4 inches at 6 feet from the ground, — a broad 

 spreading tree. 



On the meadows at Northampton, near the road from the 

 town leading to the ferry of Mt. Holyoke, one is found which 

 in 1837 measured 12| feet at 3| feet from the ground. This is 

 a noble tree. 



An old gnarled tree in. a pasture meadow north of Centre 

 Bridge, Lancaster, measured, in 1840, 18 feet 5 inches at 1 foot 

 from the ground, the bulging roots preventing my measuring it 

 at the surface. At 3 feet it measured 16 feet 8 inches, at 6 feet 

 13 feet 10| inches. It divides at a low point into several large 

 branches, and rises to about 60 feet. An old tree on the Ather- 

 ton road measured 15 feet 10 inches near the roots, and 12 feet 

 4 inches at 3 feet above. 



A vigorous, round-headed tree near Rev. Louis Dwight's barn 

 in Stockbridge, measured, in 1843, 12 feet in girth at 3 feet from 

 the ground. 



Sp. 3. The Rock Maple. Sugar Maple. A. saccharinum. L. 



The leaves, flowers and fruit are well figured in Michaux, Sylva, I, Plate 42 ; 

 a young tree, leaves, spray and flowers, in Loudon, Arboretum, V, Plate 37. 



The Rock Maple is easily distinguished from the other maples 

 by the roundness of the notch between the lobes of the leaves, 

 which, in those already described, is somewhat acute. This 

 tree, which is also called Hard Maple, from the character of its 

 wood, and Sugar Maple, from the valuable product of its sap, 

 is, in all respects, the most remarkable tree of the family. 

 When young it is a beautiful, neat, and shapely tree, with a 

 rich, full, leafy head, of a great variety of forms, — enlarging 

 upwards and forming a broad mass above, — or tapering at each 

 extremity and full in the middle, supported by an erect, smooth, 

 agreeably clouded column, with a clean bark, and a cheerful 

 63 



