I.] 



ACERINE/E. 



I/.I 



DISTRIBUTION. Chiefly restricted to the North tem- 

 perate zone of both hemispheres. One British genus, 

 species 2. 



Trees. Leaves opposite. Stamens definite. 



Type Common Maple (Acer campestre). 

 A dark-green deciduous tree, with opposite 5-lobed 

 leaves, and loose corymbose flowers. 



The number of parts in the floral whorls is variable. 



OBSERVE the large hypogynous disk, and the winged 

 fruit, called a samara. 



Some species of Maple abound in a sweet juice, which 

 is collected from the North American Sugar Maple (A. 

 saccharimtni), and boiled down into Maple sugar. The 

 sap is obtained in spring by tapping the tree to a depth 

 of about half an inch, and inserting a tube. The sap 

 flows for six weeks at from two to three gallons per day. 

 Good Maples yield an average of four pounds of sugar 

 each season. 



The soft white wood of the Sycamore is used for 

 trenchers, bowls, &c. Maples are often incorrectly called 

 Plane Trees. 



The Horse Chestnut (AZsculus) is an Eastern tree, 

 commonly planted in England for shade, belonging to 

 another tribe of the Natural Order Sapindaceae. 



OBSERVE the structure of the embryo of the exalbumin- 

 ous seed of Horse Chestnut, the cotyledons being more 

 or less connate, so that the seed look's as though it were 



