﻿Trees of New York State 301 



ACERACEAE 



Acer Xeguiido L. [Xegundo aceroides Moench.] 



Box Elder, Ash-leaved Maple 



Habit — ^A tree of medium size, under favorable eouditions attaining a 

 height of 50-75 feet ^vith a trunk 2-4 feet in diameter. Bole usually 

 short, dividing low down into stout, spreading limbs to form a broad, 

 rounded, bushy croA\ni, occasionally long and free of branches for some 

 distance. 



Leaves — Opposite, odd-pinnately compound or in part decompound, 6-15 

 inches long, long-petioled, consisting of 3-5 (rarely 9) leaflets. Leaf- 

 lets ovate-lanceolate, oval, or obovate, acuminate at the apex, cuneate 

 or rounded at the base, coarsely and irregularly serrate above the 

 middle or deeply lobed or divided, at maturity tliin, light green, gla- 

 brous or somewhat pubescent above, paler and nearly smooth below, 

 borne on stout petioles, that of the terminal leaflet often 1 inch long 



Flowers — Appearing in April or May with or before the leaves on the 

 growth of the preceding season, yelloAvish green, dioecious, the stami- 

 nate in fascicles with long, pendulous pedicels 1-2 inches long, the 

 pistillate in narrow, drooping racemes. Calyx hairy without, cam- 

 panulate and obscurely 5-lobed in the staminate flower, tubular and 

 deeply lobed in the pistillate flower. Corolla wanting. Stamens -t-6. 

 exserted, with slender filaments and elongated anthers. Pistil con- 

 sisting of a short, compressed, pubescent, laterally lobed ovary sur- 

 mounted by elongated styles Avhich are stigmatic along the inner surface. 



Fruit — A glabrous, double samara consisting of 2 pale, reddish brown acutely 

 diverging 1-seeded carpels, %-% of an inch long, bearing tliin, reticu- 

 lately veined, straight or somewhat falcate wings l%-2 inches long, borne 

 in drooping racemes, ripening in the autmun and separating from the 

 fruit stalks which persist on the twigs during the winter. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, green or purplish green, smooth, lus- 

 trous or covered at least toward the tips witli a glaucous bloom, marked 

 by scattered, pale lenticels. Terminal bud ovoid, acute, pale tomentose 

 about i/s of an inch long. Lateral buds opposite, short-stalked, obtuse, 

 shorter than the terminal bud. neai-ly or quite enclosed by the first 

 pair of bud-scales which commonly bear lateral accessory-buds in their 

 axils. Mature bark thin, pale gray or light brown, shallowly fissured 

 with narrow, anastomosing ridges. 



Habitat — ^A moisture-loving species preferring the banks of streams and 

 rivers, margins of lakes, and low bottom-lands in company with other 

 species. It is often planted and will thrive in drier situations. 



Range — Western Vermont southward to Florida, westward tlirough st utii- 

 ern Ontario to the eastern slopes of the Eocky ^lountains, Texas, Xew 

 Mexico and Arizona. Kare east of the Ap]ialacliian ^lountains. Zones 

 A, B, and C. 



Uses — Of little commercial importance as a timber tree. Wood soft, light, 

 not strong, close-grained, creamy white. Occasionally manufactured into 

 cheap furniture, woodenware. paper pulp. etc. The tree possesses some 

 ornamental valvie and is planted extensively in the east as a shade, lawn, 

 and roadside tree. A number of horticultural forms are recognized. A 

 variety (A. Xegundo. var. Californicum Sarg.) occurs in California. 



