24 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



B. Leaves palmately lobed, or leaves divided into separate leaflets. 



1. Leaves palmalely lobed or divided. 



Leaves large and coarse, 5 to 1 1 inches across; fruits not winged; Sierra Nevada 

 parks. 

 Leaves alternate, the blades deeply lobed; flowers and fruits borne in dense 



round balls on slender stems ....California sycamore (Plalanus racemosa). 



Leaves opposite, divided into separate leaflets; flowers white, borne in showy 



erect clusters; fruits resembling chestnuts 



California buckeye {Aesculus calif arnica) . 



Leaves mostly smaller, not so coarse; fruits double-winged; widespread in the parks 



......ACER. 



Leaves 5-lobed, the notches between the lobes rounded, coarsely few-toothed. 



Flowers borne in oblong clusters, the fruits hairy; in Pacific slope parks 



Bigleaf maple (A. macroph^llum) . 



Flowers borne in umbel-like clusters, the fruits smooth. 



Leaf-blades usually hairy below; in Southwest parks 



Bigtooth maple (A. grandidentatum) . 



Leaf-blades mostly smooth below; eastern species 



Sugar maple {A. saccharum) . 



Leaves 3- or 5-lobed, the notches V-shaped, finely to coarsely toothed; eastern 



species Red maple {A. rubrum) . 



2. Leaves pinnately divided into separate leaflets. 



Fruits double-winged; leaflets 3 to 5 Boxelder {Acer negundo var. inlerius). 



Fruits single-winged; leaflets 3 to II ..FRAXINUS. 



Leaflets 3 to 7 ; flowers with a calyx. 



Wing of fruit extending down sides of body to below middle; western 



species Desert ash (F. velulina var. con'aceae). 



Wing of fruit scarcely at all extending down sides of body; eastern species 



White ash (F. americana) . 



Leaflets 5 to 11; flowers without calyx; wing of fruit extending to base of 



body; eastern species Black ash (F. nigra). 



Field Guide to die Shrubs 



Leaves large, mostly more than 6 inches long, borne m dense clusters at the base of 



the plant A, p. 24. 



Leaves not as above, mostly borne along the stems. 



Leaves scale-like, awl-shaped, linear, or apparently none, never in a basal 



cluster B, p. 25. 



Leaves mostly broad, not scale-like, awl-shaped, nor linear, sometimes clustered 

 at the base, but then smaller than 6 inches. 



Leaves alternate C. p. 25. 



Leaves opposite or whorled D, p. 28. 



A. Leaves borne in a basal cluster, Yz to 4 feet long, linear to lance- 

 shaped WITH stiff sharp POINTS, STIFF AND LEATHERY OR HARD AND FLESHY. 

 Leaves tough and leathery or fleshy, the margins fringed with tough stringy fibers; 



flowers white or streaked with purple YUCCA, p. 34. 



Leaves thick and fleshy, the margins armed with stiff spine-tipped teeth; flowers 



yellow AGAVE, p. 37. 



