132 THE MAPLE AND THE SYCAMORE. 



or a catkin, or a berry, or anything of the apple 

 form, these two produce a curious fruit, technically 

 termed a double samara. Originally, so far as can 

 be gathered from the use of the word by Columella, 

 this term was applied to the fruit of the elm-tree. 

 The application is now extended ; all fruits of struc- 

 ture similar to that of the elm (the little seed-like 

 fruits, for example, contained in the quasi-cone of 

 the birch-tree) being classed as samaras. The main 

 distinction in the maple and sycamore is the growing 

 of the samaras in couples, instead of singly. 



The samara is a one-celled and one- seeded, dry, 

 and indehiscent fruit, provided with a long or broad 

 membranous wing, which enables the wind to waft 

 it far away. Hence the frequency with which trees 

 producing fruits of this nature are found perched 

 aloft upon old church towers and castle walls, where 

 they compete for the monarchy with trees that have 

 had their seeds conveyed thither by birds. While 

 young, these wing-like parts are semi-translucent ; 

 and on being held between the eye and the light, 

 show a network of veins. In old age, when begin- 

 ning to dry up, they become elegantly reticulated, 

 and in the depth of winter it is not uncommon to 

 find them reduced to the condition of skeletons. 

 Capital toys are they, too, for children. A properly- 

 ripened samara of the common sycamore (easily 

 known to be so by the roundness and solidity of the 

 seed at the end), thrown up into the air, spins and 



