84 8APINDACEJE. (SOAPBERRY FAMILY.) 



SUBORDER III. ACERfNILE. THE MAPLE FAMILY. 



3. ACER, Tourn. MAPLE. 



Flowers polygamous. Calyx colored, 5- (rarely 4 -12-) lobed or parted. Pet- 

 als cither none, or as many as the lobes of the calyx, equal, with short claws 

 if any, inserted on the margin of the lobcd disk, which is either perigynous or 

 hypogynous. Stamens 4 -12. Ovary 2-celled, with a pair of ovules in each : 

 styli-s 2, long and slender, united only below, stigmatic down the inside. From 

 the back of each ovary grows a wing, converting the fruit into two 1 -seeded, at 

 length separable, closed samaras or keys. Seed without albumen. Embryo 

 variously coiled or folded, with large and thin cotyledons. Trees, or some- 

 times shrubs, with opposite palmately-lobed leaves, and small flowers. Pedi- 

 cels not jointed. (The classical name, from the Celtic ac, hard.) 

 * Flowers in terminal racemes, greenish, appearing after the leaves: stamens G - 8. 



1. A. SVnnsylvfmk ami, L. (STRIPED MAPLE.) Leaves 3-lobcd 

 at the apex, finely and sharply doubly serrate ; the short lobes taper-pointed, 

 and also sen-ate; racemes drooping, loose ; petals obovate ; fruit with large diverg- 

 ing wings. (A. striatum, Lam.) Rich woods, Maine to Wisconsin, and north 

 ward along the Alleghanics to Virginia and Kentucky. June. A small and 

 slender tree, with light-green bark striped with dark lines, and greenish flowers 

 and fruit. Also called Striped Dogwood, and Moose-Wood. 



2. A. spicfitum, Lam. (MOUNTAIN MAPLE.) Leaves downy under- 

 neath, 3- (or slightly 5-) lobed, coarsely serrate, the lobes taper-pointed ; racemes 

 u/tright, dense, somewhat compound ; petals linear-spatulate ; fruit with small very 

 divergent wings. (A. montanum, Ait.) Moist woods, with the same range 

 as No. 1 . June. A tall shrub, forming clumps. 



# # Flowers iimbef/ate-cori/mbed, greenish-yellow, appearing with the luirm. 



3. A. sac cliari mini, Wang. (SUGAR MAPLE. ROCK MAPLE.) 

 Leaves 3 - 5-lobed, with rounded sinuses and pointed sparingly sinuate-toothed 

 lobes, either heart-shaped or nearly truncate at the base, whitish and smooth or 

 a little downy along the veins beneath ; flowers from terminal leaf-hearing and 

 lateral leafless buds, drooping on very slender hairy pedicels ; calyx hairy at the 

 apex ; petals none ; wings of the fruit broad, slightly diverging. Rich woods, 

 especially northward and along the mountains southward. April, May. A 

 large, handsome tree. 



Var. aii^riiiii. (BLACK SUGAR-MAPLE.) Leaves scarcely paler beneath, 

 but often minutely downy, the lobes wider, the sinus at the base often closed. 

 (A. nigrum, Michx.) With the ordinary form. 



# * * Flowers in umbel-like clusters arising from lateral leajless buds, preceding the 

 leaves: stamens 3-6. 



4. A. dasycarpimi, Ehrhart. (WHITE or SILVER MAPLE.) / 

 very (li'f/il// 5-/obid with the sinuses rather acute, silvery -white (and when young 

 downy) underneath, the divisions narrow, cut-lobed and toothed ; flowers 

 (greenish-yellow) on short pedicels; petals none; fruit trouf/i/ when young, with 



iiviTgi-nt wings. River-banks, most common southwaitl and westward. 

 March, April. A fine ornamental tree. 



