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Native Trees of Canada 



because of its rapid growth, but otherwise it is not a desirable tree for Eastern 

 Canada where there is no difficulty in growing better and longer-lived trees. 



The bark is a light brown in colour, and on old trees is thick and deeply fur- 

 rowed with irregular, flat-topped ridges. 



The twigs are smooth and either reddish-purple or yellowish-green in colour. 

 In winter they are covered with a down or bloom which rubs ofif. The leaf-scars 



are somewhat V-shaped and, as with all maples, are in pairs and opposite on the 

 twig. Adjacent leaf-scars extend around the twig and almost meet. 



The winter buds are grey and downy, sometimes reddish. Only two pairs of 

 scales are exposed. 



The leaves are compound, i.e., they have several (three to five or more) leaflets 

 on a stem. This is the only native maple with compound leaves. The leaflets arc 

 2 to 4 in. long, oval in outline, and coarsely toothed. They are light green above 

 and pale beneath. 



The fruit hangs in clusters from a stem 6 to 8 in. long and remains on the tree 

 well into the winter. The wings are spread at a sharp angle. The seed portion, 

 even when quite fresh, has a more or less withered and wrinkled appearance. 



The wood of the Manitoba maple has the lowest technical value of all the native 

 commercial species. It is soft, weak, coarse-grained, and perishable. It is sawn 

 into lumber locally for boxes and rough construction. 



