ACERACEJE. 88 ACER. 



Lat. acer, sharp, vigorous. The wood of the Maple, was anciently manu- 

 factured into the heads of pikes and other sharp weapons. 



* Trees. Flowers corymbose, &c. 



1. A. RUB RUM. 



Leaves palmate, 5-lobed, cordate at base, unequally and incisely tootlied, the 

 sinuses acute, jrlaucous beneatJi ; foicers aggregate, about 5 togellier, on rather 

 loner pedicels; oxaries smooih. The red luaple is a common tenant of low 

 M'oods and swamps tliroughout the Atlantic states. It is a tree somewhat 

 above tlie middle size. The trunk is covered with a smooth bark, marked with 

 large, white spots, becoming dark with age. In spring, the appearance of the 

 tree is remarkable for the deep crimson flowers, with which it is thickly clothed. 

 Each bud gives birth to a fascicle of about 5 flowers. Stamens much cxscrt- 

 ed. The fertile flowers are succeeded by a red fruit, furnished with a pair 

 of winfs resemblinff those of some insect. The wood is hard and compact, 

 and is much used in cabinet-work, particularly that well known and hand- 

 some variety called curled maple. Red Maple. Swamp Muplc. 



2. A. dasyca'rpum. 



Leaves palmate, 5-lobed, truncated at base, unequally and incisely toothed, 

 with obtuse sinuses, white and smooth beneath ; //ojiw.'rs in crowded, simple 

 umbels, v.'ith short pedicels and downj' vvarics. This species much resembles 

 the last, but its leaves are larger, and the winged fruit is also larger than that 

 of the red maple or of any of the following species. It is a tall tree 50 feet in 

 hight, not uncommon in the N. England forests. The flowers are of a yellow- 

 ish green color, as also the fruit. The wood is white, softer and less esteemed 

 than that of other species. The sap yields sugar in smaller proportion than 

 the sugar maple. While Maple. 



3. A. sacchari'num. 



Leaves palmate, 5-lobed, subcordate at base, acuminate, remotely toothed, 

 with rounded and shallow sinuses, glaucous beneath ; jloicers pedunculate, 

 corymbose, nodding. This fine tree is most abundant in the primitive soils of 

 N. England, constituting the greater part of some of its forests. It is a tree 

 of lofly proportions, 70 teet in hight, with a trunk 3 feet in diameter. The 

 bark is of a light gray color, rough and scaly. The branciies become nume- 

 rous and finely ramified in open situations, and in summer aie clothed with a 

 foliage of uncommon luxuriance and beauty, on which account it is more ex- 

 tensively cultivated as a sliade tree than any other, not even excepting the 

 majestic and favorite elm. Maple sugar, perhaps the most delicious of all 

 sweets, is almost wholly the product of this species. An ordinary tree will 

 3''ield 20 — 30 gallons of sap in a season, some, twice or three times as much. 

 It is obtained by inserting spouts in holes bored in the trunk. When collect- 

 ed, it is concentrated by evaporation until it crystallizes or grains, yielding 

 sugar in the proportion of about a pound to four gallons. The wood of the 

 rock maple is very strong and compact, and makes the best of fuel. It is 

 sometimes curled like the red maple, but oftener presents that beautiful ar- 

 rangement of fibre, called bird's cycmaple, which is highly esteemed in cabinet- 

 work. Apr. Sugar Maple. Rock Maple. 



* * Shrul)s. Flowers in racemes. 



4. A. PeNNSYLVA'NICUM. L. A. Striatum. Lam. 



Leaves with 3 acuminate lobes, rounded at base, sharply denticulate, smooth ; 

 racemes simple, pendulous. A small tree or shrub, 10 — 15 feet high. Found 



