GERANIACE^: 



47 



The Maple has palmate, lobate leaves, downy 

 beneath, and small sweetly-smelling greenish-yellow 

 flowers, growing in erect clusters. The bark is of 

 a cork-like texture. The wood is mottled, and is 

 much used for furniture. 



The Sycamore is a larger tree, and the leaves 

 are lobate, pointed, with the edges irregularly 

 notched, and bluish green beneath. The flower- 

 clusters are green and drooping. It is a tree 

 which rapidly multiplies itself, and though of 

 very quick growth, the wood is useful and 

 durable. 



The various species of Maple and Sycamore 

 yield a sweet sap from which sugar can be 

 obtained ; and maple-sugar, made of sap for 

 which the Sugar-Maple (Acer saccharinum) is 

 tapped, is an important commodity in Canada 

 and the northern United States. 



Order XIX. Geraniacece (2 genera) 



The Geraniums and Crane's Bills include only 

 two British genera — Geranium and Erodium. 



They have small pink or purple flowers, with 4 

 sepals and petals, and 10 stamens, of which 5 are 

 rudimentary in Erodium. The style forms a long 

 beak, curving upwards in Geranium and twisted in 

 Erodium. The leaves are opposite, and more or 

 less deeply divided. The flowers generally grow 

 singly, or two together on short stalks. 



These plants have a peculiar and rather un- 

 pleasant smell, more or less pronounced according 

 to the species, and not confined to the flowers. 

 Many foreign species are grown in our gardens, 

 some of which are shrubby climbing plants, and 

 though generally grown low, can easily be trained 

 over a wall. 



Mountain Geranium — Geranium pyrenaicum 



(Plate XIX) 



This is a somewhat scarce species in the British 

 Islands, but is found in many places growing on 

 waste ground, though probably naturalised rather 

 than truly indigenous. It flowers from July till 

 late in autumn, and has a perennial root which 



