The Sugar Maple 151 



reaches a height of seventy -five or a hundred feet, 

 with a trunk two or three feet in diameter. The 

 crown, in shape, is like a broad, round dome. 



Maple leaves are four and five inches long 

 and about as broad, with large lobe-like teeth. 

 The leaves in spring are a beautiful light green, 

 turning darker as summer comes. In autumn 

 much of the beauty of woods and hills comes from 

 the maple leaves, which by then have taken on 

 many brilliant colors orange, red, and yellow. 

 The maple's buds are very small, and of a red- 

 dish-brown hue. They lie close to the twig. 



The seeds, like those of the birch and tulip, 

 are ripe in autumn. They grow in pairs, two tiny 

 seeds at the base, and each with a thin, flat wing. 

 These wings are much larger than the rest of the 

 seed, about an inch long. With them the seeds 

 ride lightly on the wind. 



As the maple twigs become branches the bark 

 covering them changes in color from light brown 

 to gray, though on both it is very smooth. The 

 bark over the old tree-trunks is broken up by 

 furrows, and is of a darker gray. 



This tree has a wood both strong and heavy. 

 Many articles for the home are made of maple, 



