CHAP. XxII. ACERA CER. ACER. 411 
Worcestershire, at Croome, a tree, 35 years planted, is 40 ft. high. In Yorkshire, at Grimstone, a 
tree, 13 years planted, is 30 ft. high. In Scotland, in Haddingtonshire, at Tynningham, there isa 
tree 42 ft. high. In Clackmannanshire, in the garden of the Dollar Institution, one 7 years planted 
is 14 ft, high. In Perthshire, at Taymouth, one 5V years planted is 50 ft. high ; the diameter of the head 
51 feet.% According to Dr. Walker, this tree has attained a large size in the Island of Bute, at Bar- 
gally, and at various other places on the sea coast of Scotland. In Ireland, in King’s county, at 
Charleville Forest, a tree, 60 years planted, is 78 ft. high, with a trunk 3 ft. 8 in. at | ft. from the ground, 
In France, in the neighbourhood of Paris, the tree attains the height of 60 ft. In Germany, in Ha- 
nover, at Schwibber, it has attained the height of 80 ft. In Saxony, at Worlitz, 40 ft. In the neigh. 
bourhood of Vienna, from 50 ft. to 60 ft. In Russia, where the tree is very common, it often exceeds 
the height of 40 ft., south of Kiow; but north of Moscow it is seldom above 30 ft. In Sweden,on 
the north-west coast, exposed to the sea breeze, it grows to the height of between 30 ft. and 40 ft. ; 
as it does about Lund, and at different places on both shores of the Baltic. 
Commercial Statistics. This tree is very generally propagated in European 
nurseries. In London, plants, | ft. high, cost 30s. a 1000; and 3 ft. high, 50s.; 
at Bollwyller, 20 cents each, or 40 francs a 1000; at New York,?. 
¥ 7. A. saccna’rinum L. The Sugar Maple. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1496. ; Hayne, Dend., p. 214, ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 595.; Don’s Mill, 1. p. 650. 
Synonymes. Rock Maple, Hard Maple, Bird’s-eye Maple, Amer. 
Engravings. Michx. Fl. Arb., 2. t. 15.; Tratt. Arch., 1, No. 3.; our fig. 122. inp. 446, 447. ; and the 
plate of this species in our Second Volume. 
Variety. A. s.2 nigrum; the A. nigrum of Michaux, De Candolle, and G. Dan; the black 
Sugar Tree, or Rock Maple, figured in Michz. Arb.,2. t. 16. has the leaves resembling 
those of A’cer sacchérinum, but much darker. According to Michaux, the leaves are 
5in. or Gin. long, and “‘ exhibit, in every respect, nearly the same conformation as those 
of_the true sugar maple. ‘* They differ from it,” he says, “‘ chiefly in being of a darker green, 
and of a thicker texture; and in being somewhat more bluntly lobed. The tree is in- 
discriminately mixed with the common sugar maple through extensive ranges of country 
in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut; but is readily distinguished from it_b 
the smaller size which it attains, and the darker colour of its leaves.” The soilin whic 
it flourishes best is a rich, strong, sandy Joam ; and there it usually grows to the height 
of 40 ft. or 50 ft. Trees of this alleged species were introduced into England in 1812; 
and there are plants bearing the name in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, 
and in the garden of the Messrs. Loddiges, and to us they havefalways appeared to be 
merely varieties of A. saccharinum, differing in nothing but in having the foliage some- 
what darker. Plants,in the London nurseries, cost 1s. 6d., and seeds 4s. per ounce; at 
Bollwyller, 1 franc 50 cents a plant; and at New York, 50 cents a plant, and seeds 
1 dollar per quart. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves cordate, smooth, glaucous beneath, palmately 
5-lobed ; lobes acuminated, serrately toothed. Corymbs drooping, on short 
peduncles. Pedicels pilose. Fruit smooth with the wings diverging, (Don’s 
Miil.,i. p.650.) A deciduous tree, from North America, growing, in Eng- 
land, to the height of 40 ft. or 50 ft., and flowering in April and May. In- 
troduced in 1735. 
Description. In America, the sugar maple sometimes reaches the height 
of 70 ft. or 80 ft., with a proportionate diameter; but it does not commonly 
exceed 50 ft. or 60 ft., with a diameter of 12in.or18in. Well-grown thriving 
trees are beautiful in their appearance, and easily distinguished by the white- 
ness of their bark. The leaves are about 5 in. broad ; but they vary in length 
according to the age and vigour of the tree. They are opposite, attached by 
long petioles, palmated or unequally divided into 5 lobes, entire at the edges, 
of a bright green above, and glaucous or whitish underneath. In autumn, 
they turn reddish with the first frosts. Except in the colour of the under 
surface, they nearly resemble the leaves of the Norway maple. The flowers 
are small, yellowish, and suspended by slender drooping peduncles. The 
seed is contained in two capsules united at the base, and terminating in amem- 
branous wing. It is ripe near New York in the beginning of October, 
though the capsules attain their full size six weeks earlier. Externally, they 
appear equally perfect ; but Michaux informs us that he constantly found one 
of them empty; and the fruit is matured only once in two or three years. 
(Michaux, p. 225.) The wood, when cut, is white; but, after being wrought 
and exposed some time to the light, it takes a rosy tinge. Its grain is fine 
and close, and, when polished, it has a silky lustre. It is very strong, and 
sufficiently heavy, but wants the property of durability, for which the chestnut 
and the oak are so highly esteemed. When exposed to moisture it soon 
decays; and for this reason it is neglected in civil and naval architecture. 
(Michaux, p. 225,226.) The buds of this species, like those of A’cer Psetido-. 
Piatanus, of which it may be considered the American representative, have 
a fine ruddy tint early in spring, before they begin to expand, 
