,34 



GERANIACEiE. [Acer. 



Trees of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, of great 

 beauty. Leaves simple, often lobed. Flowers racemose or corym- 

 bose, axillary, often, by imperfection, dicecious or polygamous. 



1. Acer. Linn. Maple. 



Calyx 5-cleft, inferior. Petals 5. Germen 2-lobed. Capsules 2, 

 united at the base, each with a long winged membrane, (hence 

 called a Samara), 1 -celled, 1 — 2-seeded. — Name from acer, 

 sharp or hard (ac, Celtic) on account of the hardness of the 

 wood, which was employed in fabricating spears, pikes, &c. 



Octundria. Monogynia. 



1. A. P seudo-platanus, Linn. Greater Maple, or Sycamore. 

 Leaves 5-lobed, unequally serrated ; racemes pendulous sub- 

 tomentose. Br. Fl. I. p. 174. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 230. E. Bot. 

 t. 303. 



In hedges, plantations, and about houses, not indigenous. Fl. May, 

 June. T? • — A large tree, with spreading branches and ample leaves. 

 Flowers greenish. Fruit with two membranaceous wings, which 

 greatly aid in its dispersion. The wood is used for bowls and trenchers, 

 and other turnery. It is one of the best trees for planting near the 

 sea-coast. 



2. A. campestre, Linn. Common Maple. Leaves 5-lobed, 

 obtuse, somewhat cut; clusters corymbose, erect. Br. Fl. 1. 

 p. 174. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 230. E. Bot. t. 304. 



Hedges about Cork, scarcely indigenous ; Mr. J. Drummond. 

 Hedges at Ballycullen, County of Dublin ; Dr. Brinkley, Bishop of 

 Cloyne. County of Derry ; Mr.'D. Moore. Fl. May, June. J? . — A 

 small tree, with rough bark, full of deep fissures. Leaves small. The 

 wood is compact, of a fine grain, sometimes beautifully veined ; cele- 

 brated among the ancients for tables. 



Ord. 17. GERANIACE^. Juss. Crane's-bill Family. 



Sepals 5, persistent, more or less unequal, with an imbricated 

 aestivation, one of them lengthened into a spur, connate and 

 continuous with the peduncle. Petals 5, (rarely 4 or none,) al- 

 ternate with the sepals, unguiculate, equal or unequal, hypogy- 

 nous or perigynous. Stamens monadelphous, rarely wholly dis- 

 tinct, twice or thrice as many as there are petals, some of them 

 occasionally sterile, equal or unequal. Ovary of 5 cells or 

 pieces, placed round a subpentagonal elongated axis : styles 5, 

 combined upon the axis into one : stigmas 5. Carpels (often 

 called (cocculi) 5, submembranaceous, 1-celled, 1-seeded, even- 

 tually separating from the central indurated axis and terminating 

 by the persistent style, which springs from the base and curls 

 upwards. Seed solitary, pendulous, without albumen : embryo 



