PLATANUS-LIKIi MAPLE. 81 



They ripen in England in September and October, and generally prove abortive 

 until the tree arrives at an age of nearly forty years. 



Varieties. At least four varieties of the Norway maple are known, and may 

 be distinguished as follows : 



1. A. p. LOBELii, Loudon. Label's Plu/anns-like Maple. The leaves of this 

 variety are very slightly heart-shaped, irregularly toothed, five-lobed, with the 

 lobes more or less abruptly pointed. The bark of the young wood is striped, 

 somewhat in the manner of that of the Acer striatum ; by which circumstance 

 the plant, in the young state, may readily be known. It is a large tree, native 

 of the kingdom of Naples, and found on mountains. 



2. A. p. PUBESCENs, Loudon. Doimiy-leaved Platanus-like Maple. This vari- 

 ety may be distinguished by the pubescence of the leaves on their under sides. 



3. A. p. ALBO VARiEGATUM, Loudon. SUvcnj Variegaterl-leavell Plafani/s-li/ce 

 Maple. This variety has been represented as having its foliage beautifully and 

 handsomely marked; but it is thought to be inferior in beauty, to the variegated 

 sycamore. 



4. A. p. LACiNiATUM, Dc Caudollc. Cut-leaved Platanus-like Maple. This is 

 a very distinct variety, with the leaves deeply and variously cut. There is a 

 sub-variety of this race, sometimes called by nurserymen, the eagle's claw, or 

 hawk's-foot maple. 



Geograpliij and Histo?'!/. The Acer platanoides is a native of Europe, from 

 the west coast of Norway to Switzerland, and from France to the eastern boun- 

 dary of European Russia. Pallas says that it does not occur beyond the Ural 

 Mountains, nor in Siberia, but that it is common through all the woods of Russia. 

 In the north, it forms a stunted bush, but in the Ukraine it is a lofty tree. 



This species is recorded as having been first cultivated in Britain in the Edin- 

 burgh botanic garden, by Mr. James Southerland. It is also stated by the 

 late Dr. Walker, of Edinburgh, that it was first introduced at Mount Stewart 

 in 1738. Since that time it has very generally been propagated in Britain, and 

 on the continent. 



The largest tree on record, is at Schwobber, near Hanover, in Germany. It 

 had attained the height of eighty feet in 1835. 



At Charleville Forest, in King's county, Ireland, there was, in 1835, a tree of 

 this species, sixty years planted, which had attained the height of seventy-eight 

 feet, with a trunk three and two-thirds feet in diameter, one foot from the 

 ground. 



At Taymouth, in Perthshire, Scotland, there was, in 1835, a Norway maple, 

 fifty years planted, which was fifty feet high, with an ambitus, or spread of 

 branches, of fifty-one feet. 



This species was introduced into the United States by the late Mr. Prince, of 

 Flushing, New York, prior to 1820, and is usually found in American nurseries 

 and collections. 



Soil and Situation. To attain a considerable size, this tree should be planted 

 in a free, deep, rich soil, not surcharged with moisture ; and the situation ought to 

 be low rather than high. It thrives remarkably well along the sea-shore on the 

 Baltic, and on the west coast of Norway. 



Accidents., ^c. The leaves of the Acer platanoides, in common with those of 

 the Acer pseudo-platanus, and perhaps those of several other species of the same 

 genus, are subject to wiiat is commonly called the honey-dew, which, from its 

 clamminess in the neighbourhood of the smoke of mineral coal, is apt to attract 

 and retain the particles of soot that are continually floating in the air. In con- 

 sequence of insects resorting to the leaves in quest of the honey-dew, they arc 

 frequently blackened with their excrement. This honey-dew, or manna, as it is 

 called in some parts of France, is thought by some, to be produced by the extra 



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