350 ] Trees and How to Know Them 



wind ruffles this foliage, a silver maple may seem to change before 

 your eyes from an ordinary green hue to silver. This tree is the 

 fastest growing of all our maples and attains a good size. 



Bigleaf Maples: The bigleaf maples, found along the Pacific coast 

 from Alaska to southern California, have the largest leaves of 

 any native maple. They may be as long as twelve inches, and their 

 width is slightly greater! 



Norway Maples: The Norway maple is one of several species in- 

 troduced to America for ornamental planting. Its leaves are very 

 much like those of the sugar maple, but they are broader than they 

 are long. If you break one of the leaf stalks, a milky juice will 

 ooze forth. The bark of the Norway maple is dark gray and fairly 

 smooth; its twigs are about twice as thick as those of a sugar maple. 



Seeds with Wings: What acorns are to the oaks, the paired, winged 

 seeds are to the maples. Any time after the first of June you may 

 look for maple seeds on the sidewalks, roads, and woods. In the 

 case of the sugar maple, though, the seeds do not fly until the fall. 

 Sometimes maple seeds have two wings attached, other times a 

 wing is broken off. Though they have the appearance of two sepa- 

 rate seeds joined together, usually only one seed of the pair is 

 developed. 



The twin green wings do a good job of carrying seeds to 

 new growing grounds. Children are quick to appreciate their 

 efficiency and similarity to man-made gliders. 



SYCAMORES MASSIVE SHADE TREES 



You will easily recognize this massive tree in winter as well 

 as summer by its mottled whitish bark, its thick trunk, and its 

 broad oval crown. However, the bark takes on a variety of forms 

 and colors according to the sycamore's age and the conditions 

 under which it is growing. Until it is moderately old, large thin 

 plates of bark peel off, exposing areas of whitish, yellowish, or 

 greenish inner bark probably the result of the outer bark's in- 

 ability to expand. 



