ACER 



143 



prominent lenticels; buds sessile or short- stalked, large, ovoid, 

 the terminal acute and the lateral obtuse, covered with gray hairs; 

 leaf-scars V-shaped, encircling the stem so that the adjacent edges 

 of opposite scars meet at a very sharp angle; bundle-traces usu- 

 ally 3. Riverbanks, Florida to Texas, Arizona and Nevada, north 

 to Maine, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta (Fig. 201). 



AESCULUS L. (Hippocastanaceae) 



Deciduous trees or shrubs. Twigs quite thick; pith large, con- 

 tinuous. Buds, especially the terminal, quite large, solitary, ovoid, 

 sessile, with 6 or more pairs of scales. Leaf-scars opposite, 

 large, shield-shaped or triangular; bundle-traces 3 or in 3 groups, 

 sometimes 7 or 9; stipule-scars none. The twigs sometimes end 

 in an inflorescence - or fruit-scar (see p. 7 ) 



a. Buds brownish, not gummy 



b. Bark rough, soft and corky; ill- 

 scented; fruit spiny 1. A. glabra 



b. Bark smooth and firm, not ill- 

 scented; fruit smooth 2. A. octandra 



a. Buds nearly black, gummy 3. A. hippocastanum 



1. _A. glabra Willd. Fetid Buckeye . Ohio Buckeye . Small tree 

 up to about 20 m. high; bark gray, breaking into plates, exhaling 

 an unpleasant odor; terminal bud 1. 5-1. 8 cm. long, pointed, the 

 outer bud scales reddish-brown, finely hairy on the margins ; fruit 

 spiny. Rich woods, Pennsylvania to Nebraska, south to Alabama 

 and Oklahoma (Fig. 202). 



2. A. octandra Marsh. Sweet Buckeye . A tree up to 25 m. 

 high, with light brown to grayish-brown bark breaking up into num- 

 erous thin irregular scales; terminal bud 1.5 cm. long, somewhat 

 pointed, the outer scales reddish-brown, covered with a thin blu- 

 ish bloom; fruit smooth. Rich woods, Pennsylvania to Michigan 

 and Iowa, south to Georgia (Fig. 203). 



3. A_. hippocastanum L. Horse-Chestnut. A tree up to about 

 25 m. high, with large gummy varnished buds; fruit spiny. Intro- 

 duced from Europe, sometimes seeding itself from cultivated trees 

 (Fig. 204). 



RHAMNUS L. (Rhamnaceae) 



Deciduous shrubs or small trees. Twigs slender, sometimes 

 spiny; pith continuous, white. Buds moderate, solitary, sessile. 



