CHAP. XXII. ACERA CER. ACER. 421 
Derivation. The specific appellation of O’palus has been given to this species, probably from the thick 
opal-like aspect of the leaves. 
Engravings. Baudril. Traité, &c., vol. 5, p.13.; our fig. 126. in p. 453.; and the plate of this species 
in our Second Volume. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves more or less heart-shaped, roundish, 5-lobed, smooth 
beneath; the lobes generally obtuse, and coarsely serrated. Flowers 
in drooping corymbs. Keys smooth. (Pen. Cyc.) A tree, a native of 
Corsica; from which country it was brought to Paris by M. Richard, and 
thence to England, in 1752. It is described by Baudillart as a branchy 
tufted tree, covered with smooth leaves, somewhat coriaceous, roundish, 
indented, with five blunt lobes, deep green on the upper surface, and some- 
what glaucous underneath, with long red petioles. Its flowers are whitish, 
in short racemes ; and the small fruits, or keys, which succeed them, are 
almost round. It found in forests and on mountains in Corsica, and in 
Italy ; where, from the denseness of its shade, it is sometimes planted by 
road sides, and in gardens near houses. The red colour of the petioles, of 
the leaves, of the fruits, and even the red tinge of the leaves themselves, 
more especially in autumn, give it rather a morbid appearance. It pushes 
later in the spring than most of the other species. The wood is veined, 
and very close: in Italy, it is used for gun-stocks ; and the roots, especially 
of those trees which have been often cut down, are very much sought alter 
on account of their hardness, and their curious knots and blotches, which 
render them suitable for making snuff-boxes, and for inlaid work. 
Variety. A. coridcewm, in the arboretum of the Messrs. Loddiges, seems to 
be a variety of this species; but A. opulifolium, No. 14, as described by 
Baudrillart, seems quite distinct from it. 
Statistics. There is a plant of this species in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, 
which answers perfectly to M. Baudrillart’s description. ‘lhe largest tree in the neighbourhood of 
London, bearing the name of A. O’palus, is at Fulham Palace $§ where, in 25 years, it has attained the 
height of 35ft.; in Sussex, at Langham Park, 9 years planted, it is 20 ft. high; in Staffordshire, at 
Trentham, 12 years planted, it is 7 ft’ high; in Yorkshire, at Grimston, 12 years planted, 24 ft. high ; 
in Scotland, in the garden of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh, $ years planted, and 
12 ft. high ; at Hopeton House, 18 years planted, and 18 ft. high; in Argyllshire, at ‘Toward Castle, 
there is a tree, which is said to be considered A*cer O’palus by Dr. Hooker, which is no less than 50 ft. 
high, and girts 4ft. at 1 ft. from the ground. In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, 30 years 
planted, and 34ft. high ; in the Botanic Garden at Toulon, 40 years planted, and’30 ft. high. In Bel- 
gium, in the Botanic Garden at Ghent, 13 ft. high. In Hanover, at Schwébber, 80 ft. high (most 
robably some other species, ? 4. obtusatum) ; in Saxony, at Worlitz, 23ft. high. In Austria, in 
osenthal’s Nursery, at Vienna, 16 years planted, and 12 ft. high. 
Commercial Statistics. Price, in London, from Is. to 1s. 6d. a plant ; and at 
Bollwyller, 1 > i 
€ 12: A. oputiro‘trum Vill. The Guelder-Rose-leaved Maple. 
Identification. Vill. Dauph., 4. p. 802. ; Don’s Mill., 1. p. 649. 
Synonymes. A. hispanicum Pour. Act. Toul., 3. p.305.; A. vérnum Reyn.; A. montanum C. Bau- 
hin, Pin., 431.; E’rable duret, or E’rable & Feuilles d’Obier, and Ayart in Dauphiné, Fr.; 
Schneeboll-blittriger Ahorn, Ger. 
Engraving. Tratt. Arch., 1. No. 13.; and the plate of this species, in our Second Volume. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves cordate, roundish, 5-lobed. Lobes obtuse, bluntly 
and coarsely toothed. Corymbs almost sessile. Ovaries and fruit smooth, 
with wings rather diverging. (Don’s Mill. i. p.649.) According to Dr. 
Lindley, in the Pen. Cyc., this kind is the same as A. O’palus; but, ac- 
cording to Baudrillart, it is quite distinct. Its height, the latter says, is 
from 20 ft. to 25 ft. or 30 ft. It grows naturally in the French Alps, and 
on the Pyrenees. Its bark is grey; its leaves have 5 lobes, somewhat 
rounded, a little toothed, and greener above than below. It flowers are 
in drooping racemes ; its fruits are swelled out, and their wings spreading ; 
so much so as to form almost a straight line, like those of A. platandides. 
It is common on the rocks of Mount Jura ; and is considered preferable to all 
the other maples for its wood, which is hardand compact, without sap-wood, 
not easily split, and so homogeneous in its texture, that it is almost impossible 
to distinguish in it the annual layers. It takes the finest polish ; it is white, 
lightly shaded with lemon-colour, sometimes exhibiting flashes or shades of 
red, but not red veins. Completely dried, it weighs 52 1b. 110z.thecubic foot. 
In Bugly it is used by wheelwrights, and makes excellent naves to wheels, 
GG4 
