30 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



of its rapid growth, is a poor tree for street planting. 

 Many kinds of insects eat the foliage or bore into the 

 trunk. The breaking of its limbs causes much trouble. 

 In the living tree the wood is quite subject to decay. 

 When the tree is cut down, even the wood that is still 

 sound is not very valuable, but both silver maple and 

 red maple are now used for woodenware and flooring. 



The Norway maple. Of late years the Norway maple 

 has been planted in many cities in the United States. 

 Its flowers are greenish yellow ; its leaves are large and 

 remain green until late in autumn. The leafstalks con- 

 tain a milky juice. This tree is remarkably free from 

 insects and has proved a very satisfactory shade tree. 



Maple leaves and their arrangement. Notice that 

 the leaves of different kinds of maples differ a little in 

 shape. All have, however, the main veins diverging 

 from the leafstalk, whereas elm leaves have a midrib 

 with veins coming off on each side (page 38). The 

 former arrangement is called palmate (palmlike) ; the 

 latter is pinnate (f eatherlike) . Find other examples 

 of palmate and of pinnate leaves. Which is wider in 

 comparison with its length, a palmate or a pinnate leaf? 



The maples have the leaves and twigs opposite each 

 other on the stem, as contrasted with the alternate 

 leaves and twigs of the elm (Fig. 23). Find other exam- 

 ples of opposite and alternate leaves. 



The ash-leaved maple. This tree, more commonly 

 called the " box elder," is a maple, as its fruit shows. 

 It differs from the other maples, however, in having 

 compound instead of simple leaves ; that is, its leaves 

 are cut into a number of leaflets instead of being all in 



