

■^•m><^^-> 



CLtH. 



WHITEBARK MAPLE 



{Acer leucodenne Small.) 



TIIK whitobark raaplo is a common tree of the 

 l*i('dmoiit section of (leorgia. It occurs along: 

 banks of streams, in rocky gorjjes, and in tliick moist 

 woods, where it does well under the shade of the 

 larger trees. It generally attains a height of 20 to 

 25 feet and a diameter of one foot, but exceptional 



trees m a y 

 J' e a c h a 

 height of 40 

 feet and a 

 diameter of 

 18 to 20 

 inches. The 

 b r a n c hcs 

 are short 

 and slender, 

 forming a 

 rather com- 

 pact round- 

 topped 

 c r w n. 

 Thi.> maple 

 i s planted 

 to some ex- 

 t e n t as a 

 ti-ee in the 

 northern part of the State. 



The bark on young trees and on the branches is 

 close and light gray, near the base of old trees be- 

 coming dark brown and broken by deep furrows. 



The leaves are mostly from 2 to 3 inches across, 

 more or less deeply divided into 3 to 5 pointed, 

 coarsely-toothed lobes. They are thin and dark yel- 

 low-green above, and lighter and slightly downy 

 on the under surface. In the autumn they fre- 

 quently turn bright scarlet before they fall. 



The flowers are yellow and are borne on long 

 thread-like stalks. They do not appear until late in 

 the spring when the trees are in full leaf. The fruit 

 ripens late in the fall and, like the other maples, is a 

 two-winged "samara" or "key," the wings wide- 

 spreading and each from one-half to three-fourths of 

 an inch long. The seeds are enclosed at the base of 

 the wing and are smooth and reddish brown. 



A close relative of the sugar maple, the wood re- 

 sembles that of the latter tree very closely and is 

 hard, strong, close-grained and tough. Because of 

 the small size of the tree it is used mostlv for fuel. 



WHITEBARK JIAI^LE 



One-half natural size. 



