Handbook of Thkks of tiik Northern States and Canada. 



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The Moniit.un Maple is tlie most diminutive 

 of our eastern Maples, as it rarely if ever at 

 tains a greater size than 25 or 30 ft. in hei<,'ht 

 with a trunk 6 or 8 in. in diameter, and is 

 commonly rather a largo shrub than a tree. 

 It is rarely ever found isolilrd, as it seems to 

 require the moist ricli loam and shade of the 

 ft)rost, and docs not j^row naturally away from 

 them. 



It is prol>ahly tlie most ahiindant of the 

 shrubs and small tiees tliat clothe the banks 

 of mountain streams and overhang their spark- 

 ling waters throughout the northern states and 

 Canada. Their comely leaves and upright 

 stems of pale flowers are as intimately asso- 

 ciated with these retreats in early summer as 

 the songs of the Hermit-Thrush and Catbird 

 which live within their shade, and in autumn 

 it is an object of special beauty, its orange 

 and red leaves being only surpassed by the 

 brilliancy of its drooping clusters of scarlet 

 keys. 



The wood is little used save as an humble 

 contribution to the wood pile for fuel. A 

 cubic foot when absolutely dry weighs 33.22 

 lbs. 



Lcavra palmatoly ."-lobod or slightly .5-loln>fl. 

 cordate or truncate at liasc the aculc ui- acmiii- 

 nate lobes coarsely cn>natc-scrratc with pointed 

 teeth, membranous, conspicuously rcticulati'd. 

 glabrous above, pubescent beneath: iietiolcs 

 slender, reddish. Floirrm (.Tune) about ij in. in 

 diameter in erect many-flowered lonK-stcmmi'd 

 pubescent compound racemes ; calyx jireenish yi'I- 

 low ; petals linear-spatulate. yellow and lon.'xer 

 than the calyx lobes : stamens 7-s. exserted in the 

 staminate flowers ; ovary hoary tomcntose ; style 

 columnar. Fruit: sameras slabrous with l)road 

 divergent red wings and fully grown by mid- 

 summer. 



