

106 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



Red-Flowering Maple. Acer rubrum. 



PLATE EX. 

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



Different names are given 

 to this tree, in different parts 

 of the United States : east 

 of the Alleghanies it is cal- 

 led Red- Flowering Maple, 

 Swamp Maple and Soft 

 Maple; in the Western Coun- 

 try simply Maple. The 

 first denomination, which is 

 most generally in use, is also 

 the most appropriate, as the 

 young shoots, the flowers 

 and the fruit are red. To- 

 ward the north, the red- 

 flowering maple appears first 

 in the latitude of 48 degrees ; 

 but it soon becomes more 

 common in proceeding southward, and is found abundant to the 

 extremities of Florida and Lower Louisiana. Of all the trees 

 which flourish in wet grounds occasionally overflowed, this species 

 is most multiplied in the Middle and Southern States. It occupies, 

 in great part, the borders of the creeks, and abounds in all the 

 swamps which are often inundated, and always miry. West of 

 the mountains it is seen growing in a sandy loam on elevated 

 situations. 



In the maple swamps of New Jersey and Pennsylvania it is 

 found 60 or 70 feet in height, and 3 or 4 feet in diameter. It is 

 the earliest tree whose blossoms announce the return of spring. 

 It flowers from the middle to the last of April. The blossoms of 

 a beautiful purple or deep red, unfold more than a fortnight 

 before the leaves. They are sessile, aggregate, and situated at 

 the extremity of the branches. The leaves are smaller than 

 those of the white maple, but in some respects, they resemble 

 them. They are glaucous, or whitish underneath, and are 



