MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



SILVER MAPLE (Acer saccharinum L.) 



THE Silver Maple is met with occasionally in the 

 central part of the State, though in the eastern 

 sections it is rare or absent. It grows chiefly along 

 streams and in rich intervales. 



Normally, it is a tree from fifty to sixty feet in 

 height, having a trunk which separates at a few feet 

 from the ground into three or four upright stems that 

 are destitute of branches for a considerable distance. 



The bran che s 

 proper are long, 

 slender and not 

 infrequently pen- 

 dulous. 



The bark on the 

 trunk is dark gray 

 with perhaps a 

 reddish tinge, 

 more or less fur- 

 rowed and sep- 

 arates into large, 

 thin scales . The 

 bark on the twigs 

 is chestnut-brown 

 in color and lus- 

 trous. 



The leaves are 



simple, opposite, from six to seven inches in length 

 and deeply five-lobed. The upper surface of the leaf 

 is pale, while the lower surface is silvery -white. In 

 autumn the foliage becomes a pale yellow. 



The flowers, which are greenish-yellow or sometimes 

 pinkish, appear before the leaves, in late March or 

 early April. 



The wood is soft, weak and perishable. It is used 

 in the making of furniture and sometimes for floors. 



m : SILVER MAPLE 

 Leaves and fruit. One-third natural size. 



58 



