ACE 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ACE 



51 



2. Acanthus Carduifolius ; Thistle-leaved Acanthus. Leaves 

 sinuous-toothed, thorny; spike of flowers radical. This 

 was found at the Cape of Good Hope : respecting its cul- 

 ture and propagation, see the preceding species. 



3. Acanthus Spinosus; Prickly Acanthus. Leaves pinnati- 

 fid, thorny. It grows wild in Italy and Provence, and flow- 

 ers from July to September. It requires the same treatment 

 in cultivation as the two preceding species. 



4. Acanthus Dioscoridis ; Acanthus ofDioscorides. Leaves 

 lanceolate, quite entire, and thorny on the margin. Accord- 

 ing to Rauwolff, this species, which Linneus supposed to 

 be the genuine species of Bioscorides, grows naturally on 

 mount Lebanon in the East. 



5. Acanthus Ilicifolius ; Holly-leaved Acanthus. Leaves 

 repand, tooth-thorny ; stem shrubby, prickly. It is an ever- 

 green, rising about four feet high, very like the common 

 Holly, and armed with spines in the same manner. Native 

 of the East and West Indies, and of some of the islands in 

 the South Seas. It is too tender to thrive without a stove 

 in England, and can only be propagated by seeds, which do 

 not ripen in Europe. 



6. Acanthus Integrifolius ; Entire-leaved Acanthus. Leaves 

 oblong, entire; stem herbaceous, procumbent. It is a native 

 of the Cape. 



7. Acanthus Procumbens ; Procumbent Acanthus. Leaves 

 oblong, serrate, and ciliate ; stem procumbent, shrubby. 

 Native of the Cape. 



8. Acanthus Furcatus ; Forked Acanthus. Leaves oblong, 

 tooth-thorny; stem shrubby; bractes terminated by a three- 

 forked thorn. Native of the Cape. 



9. Acanthus Capensis ; Cape Acanthus. Leaves oblong, 

 toothed, thorny ; stem shrubby, erect ; bractes terminated 

 by a simple thorn. Native of the Cape. 



10. Acanthus Maderaspatensis ; Madras Acanthus. Leaves 

 four-fold ; flowers axillary ; calices ciliate , with an herba- 

 ceous dichotomous stem. It is a native of the East Indies ; 

 and will not" thrive in England without a stove. 



Acer; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Monoecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Hermaphrodite Flowers. Calix : 

 perianth one-leafed, five-cleft, acute, coloured, flat and 

 entire at the base, permanent. Corolla : petals five, ovate, 

 broader outward, obtuse, scarcely larger than the calix, 

 spreading. Stamina : filamenta eight, subulate, short ; an- 

 therae simple ; pollen cruciform. Pistil: germen compressed 

 immersed in a convex, perforated, large receptacle ; style 

 filiform, advancing in height daily ; stigmas two (or three), 

 pointed, slender, reflex. Pericarp: capsules two or three, 

 growing together at the base, roundish, compressed, each 

 terminated by a very large membranous wing. Seeds: soli- 

 tary, roundish. N. B. The male flowers are the same with 

 the hermaphrodites, except that they have neither germen 

 nor style, but only a bifid stigma. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 (Aiia: five-cleft. Corolla.: five-petalled. Stamina- eight (or 

 ten;) Gi/rmina: two (or three,) superior. Style: simple. Cap- 

 tuks .- two, sometimes three, with one seed in each, terminated 

 by a wing. Mules : without germen or style. This genus 

 Uts of hardy deciduous trees, easily propagated by sowing 

 their seeds soon after they are ripe, in a bed of common earth, 

 covering them half an inch thick with light mould. In the 

 spring they will appear above ground, and if kept clear from 

 weeds, and watered in dry weather, some of the sorts will 

 grow above a foot high the first summer. The autumn or 

 spring following, if they are close in the seed-bed, it will be 

 proper to transplant them into' a nursery, in rows at three 

 feet distance, and two feet asunder in the rows. They may 

 remain there three or four years, in which time they will 



become large enough to plant out for continuance. The 



species are, 



1. Acer Sempervirens ; Evergreen Maple. Leaves ovate, 

 quite entire, evergreen, this is thought to be a variety of the 

 Cretan Maple : see the seventeenth species. 



2. Acer Tataricum ; Tartarian Maple. Leaves heart- 

 shaped, undivided, serrate ; lobes obscure ; flowers in racemes. 

 It is a native of Southern Russia, by the Tanais, Volga, &c. 

 The wood is whitish, but with some brownish veins. The 

 seeds, boiled with mild and butter, are used as astringents by 

 the Calmuc Tartars. It is very difficult to raise in England. 



3. AcerPseudoplatanus; Great Maple, or Sycamore. Leaves 

 five-lobed, unequally serrate; flowers in racemes. This 

 tree grows wild in mountainous situations, in Switzerland, 

 Austria, Germany, and Italy. In England it is vulgarly called 

 the Sycamore, and sometimes the Mock Plane-tree, and in 

 Scotland it is termed the Plane-tree. It was formerly much 

 used for planting walks and avenues, and is excellent for 

 plantations near the sea, or for sheltering other trees from 

 the spray, which they resist with less injury than most trees. 

 In pastures, also, they are least injurious to the grass. The 

 wood was once much in request for trenchers, being very white 

 and soft. It is still used by turners for bowls, dishes, &c. 

 by saddlers for saddle-trees ; and is recommended for cart 

 and plough timber, being light and tough, though inferior to 

 Ash. It is a quick-growing wood, thriving wonderfully on 

 warm, sound, rich land, rising so as to make excellent walks 

 and shady bowers ; useful for inward building, where better 

 timber is wanting; and for firing, when wood grows scarce ; 

 hence it is generally reckoned proper for underwood, because 

 it shoots fast from the stool, and makes good fuel. In spring 

 and autumn this species will pour forth from the wounded 

 stem abundance of saccharine juice, in the same manner as 

 the Birch j from which Mr. Ray, on the authority of Dr. 

 Martin Lister, says that a good wine may be made. 



4. Acer Rubrum ; Scarlet-flowering Maple. Leaves five- 

 lobed, slightly toothed, glaucous underneath ; peduncles very 

 simple and aggregate. Of this tree there are two varieties in 

 nurseries. I. The Virginian Scarlet-flowering Maple. 2. Sir 

 Charles Wager's Flowering Maple. With us it is propagated 

 for the sake of the scarlet flowers which appear in the spring. 

 In Pennsylvania, where it grows in the swamps, the natives 

 use it for almost all sorts of wood-work ; with the bark they 

 dye a dark blue, and make a good black ink. The Canadians 

 tap the tree, and make sugar and treacle from the juice. 



5. Acer Saccharinum; American Sugar Maple. Leaves 

 five-parted, palmate, point-toothed, pubescent. These trees 

 grow forty feet higE. In North America, they tap the trees 

 early in the spring, and make a very good sort of sugar in 

 large quantities by boiling the juice. Large tracts of that 

 country are covered with this tree, which yields a sugar equal 

 to the best cane, and in great quantities, with no other labour 

 than what women and girls can bestow, in drawing off and 

 boiling the liquor. Dr. Rush assures us, that this tree is so 

 far from being injured by the tapping, that it has flourished 

 after forty-two annual operations ; it is therefore concluded, 

 by judicious persons, that the inhabitants of that country 

 can, not only supply their own demands, but even make sugar 

 for exportation. In all sugar plantations, it will be necessary 

 to cut out the different sorts of timber which grow intermixed 

 witli the Maple-tree, and even such of that species as are not 

 thriving trees. The timber so cut will serve as fuel for the 

 boilers, and leave openings for the rays of the sun to enter 

 which improve and enrich the sap. The season for tapping is 

 in February, March, and April, according to the weather. 

 Warm days and frosty nights are the most favourable to a plen- 





