104 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



and the moisture of the soil in which it grows. Each leaf is 

 composed of two pair of leaflets with an odd one. The leaflets 

 are petiolated, oval-acuminate, and sharply toothed : towards 

 autumn, the common petiole is of a deep red. It puts forth 

 greenish flowers in April or May. The barren and fertile ones 

 are borne on different trees, and are supported by slender pen- 

 dulous penduncles, 6 or 7 inches in length. The seeds are 

 double the length of those of the mountain maple surmounted 

 with membraneous wings. 



No particular use is made of the wood in the arts, though 

 from its luxuriant growth it would afford a profitable product as 

 fuel. 



Black Sugar Maple. Acer nigrum. 



In the Western States, and 

 the parts of Pennsylvania, 

 between the mountains and 

 the Ohio, this species is 

 called Sugar Tree, and more 

 fre quently Black Sugar Tree; 

 probably, on account of the 

 dark color of its leaves in 

 comparison with those of 

 the sugar maple, which 

 sometimes grows with it. 

 In the extensive country of 

 9 Genesee both species are 

 indiscriminately called Rock 

 Maple and Sugar JMaple. 

 The two species have been 

 confounded by botanists in 

 describing the vegetable productions of America. Its most 

 northern regions are in New Hampshire and Vermont, on the 

 Connecticut ; but from its inferior size it may be inferred that it 

 belongs to a more southern climate. Accordingly, a few degrees 

 lower, it forms a large part of the forests of Genesee, and covers 



plate viii. 



Fig. 1. A leaf. Fig. 2. The seed. 



