DENDROLOGY. 101 



of Georgia. In no part of the United States is it more multiplied 

 than in the Western Country, and nowhere is its vegetation more 

 luxuriant than on the banks of the Ohio, and of the great rivers 

 which empty into it. The white maple is found in a sandy loam, 

 on the banks of such rivers only as have limpid waters and a 

 gravelly bed, and never in swamps and other wet grounds inclosed 

 in forests, where the soil is black and miry. These situations, 

 on the contrary, are so well adapted to the red maple, that they 

 are frequently occupied by it exclusively. 



The trunk of this tree is low, seldom exceeding 25 feet in 

 height, though it is often met with on the banks of the Alleghany 

 and Monongahela rivers 12 or 15 feet in circumference. It 

 divides itself into a great number of limbs so divergent, that they 

 form a head more spacious than that of any other tree in our 

 country. The brilliant white of the leaves beneath forms a 

 striking contrast with the bright green above, and the alternate 

 reflection of the two surfaces in the water, heightens the beauty 

 of this wonderful moving mirror, and aids in forming an enchanting 

 picture to the boatman gliding through these regions of solitude, 

 and fills his eye with unwearied admiration. The white maple 

 puts forth green and yellow flowers early in the spring : its flowers 

 are small and sessile with a downy ovarium. The fruit is larger 

 than that of any other species which grows east of the Mississippi. 

 It consists of two capsules joined at the base, each of which 

 incloses one roundish seed, and is terminated by a large, 

 membraneous, falciform wing. In Pennsylvania it is ripe about 

 the first of May, and a month earlier in Georgia. At this period, 

 the leaves which have attained half their size are very downy 

 underneath ; a month later, when fully grown, they are perfectly 

 smooth. They are opposite and supported by long petioles ; 

 they are divided by deep sinuses into four lobes, are toothed on 

 the edges, of a bright green on the upper surface, and of a 

 beautiful white beneath. 



The wood of this maple is very white and of a fine texture ; 

 but it is softer and lighter than that of any other species in the 

 United States, and from its want of strength and durability it is 

 little used. It is sometimes used in cabinet making, instead of 



