RED OR SCARLET MAPLE; SWAMP MAPLE (Acer ru- 

 brum, Linn.). 50 to 120 feet. Spreading, symmetrical tree, 

 with head of slender, erect branches. Bark dark gray, flaky, 

 between fissures, into large scales; limbs pale. Wood hard, 

 close-grained, pale reddish, used for gunstocks, tool-handles, 

 oars, furniture, and woodenware. Excellent fuel. Leaves 

 opposite, simple, 3 to 6 inches long, heart-shaped, with 3 tri- 

 angular lobes, doubly saw-toothed, and 2 shallow basal lobes. 

 Surface smooth, bright green, beneath paler, often silvery, 

 downy. Autumn color, scarlet and crimson. Petioles long, 

 slim, red. Flowers dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous, in 

 March, before leaves, in axillary fascicles; petals, stigmas, and 

 stamens, scarlet; anthers yellow, making stamina te flowers 

 orange-colored; pistillate clusters deep red. Fruit fascicled, 

 long-stemmed, swinging keys with wings % to 1 inch long, 

 paired, scarlet until ripe in late May; wind-sown. Dist.: 

 Swampy ground and stream borders, Eastern States and lower 

 Canada; west to Wisconsin, western Iowa to Texas. 



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