SOAPBERRY FAMILY. 91 



stamens not exceeding the connivent light yellow petals, these of two dissimilar 

 pairs, the longer pair with very small blade ; fruit smooth. 



Var. purpurascens, PURPLISH B., has both calyx and corolla tinged 

 with purple or reddish, and leaflets generally downy underneath. 



JE. Pavia, RED BUCKEYE. S. & W. ; shrub or low tree, like the last, 

 but leaves generally smooth ; the longer and tubular calyx and the petals bright 

 red : showy in cultivation. 



6. ACER, MAPLE. (The classical Latin name.) Mostly fine trees. 



* Flowers in late spring or early summer, appearing more or less later than the 



leaves, in usually drooping racemes or corymbs, commonly terminating a 

 2 - 4-leaved shoot of the season, greenish or yellowish, with petals : stamens 

 more than 5, generally 8. 



t- EUROPEAN MAPLES, planted for ornament and shade. 



A. Pseudo-PlatanilS, SYCAMORE M. A fine tree, with spreading 

 branches, ample 5-lobed leaves whitish and rather downy beneath, on long 

 reddish petioles, the lobes toothed, long racemes, and moderately spi-eading 

 wings to the pubescent fruit. 



A. platanoides, NORWAY M., here so called. A handsome, round- 

 headed tree, with thin and broad smooth leaves, bright green both sides, their 

 5 short lobes set with 2-5 coarse and taper-pointed teeth, a small corymb of 

 flowers, and flat smooth fruit with wings 2' long, diverging in a straight line. 

 Juice milky leaves holding green later than the others. 



*- *- OREGON and CALIFORNIAN MAPLES, beginning to be planted East. 



A. circinatum, ROUND-LEAVED or VINE M. Tall, spreading shrub with 

 thin and rounded moderately 7 -9-lobed leaves, their lobes serrate, small corymbs 

 of purplish flowers, and wings of fruit diverging in a straight line. 



A. macroph^llum, LABOK-LKAVED M. Small timber-tree, with thick- 

 ish leaves 6' - 12' across and deeply 5 - 7-lobed, the lobes with one or two sinuate 

 lobes or coarse teeth, many yellowish floAvers in a compact raceme, and hairy 

 fruit with ascending wings. 



H- H- *- NATIVE STRIPED and MOUNTAIN MAPLES. 



A. spicatlim, MOUNTAIN M. Tall shrub, common N., with slightly 3- 

 lobed and coarsely toothed leaves downy beneath, and upright dense racemes of 

 small flowers, followed by small fruits with diverging narrow wings. The latest- 

 flowering species. 



A. Pennsylvanicum, STRIPED M., also called MOOSE-WOOD and 

 STRIPED DOGWOOD. Small tree, common N., with light-green bark striped 

 with darker lines, large thin leaves finely sharply serrate all round, and at the 

 end with 3 short and very taper-pointed lobes, slender hanging racemes of rather 

 large green flowers, and fruit with diverging wings. 



* # SUGAR MAPLES. Flowers appearing with the leaves in spring, in umbel- 



like clusters, on long drooping pedicels, greenish-yellow, without petals: sta- 

 mens 1 or 8. 



A. saccharinum, ROCK or SUGAR M. Large tree, common especially 

 N., valuable for timber and for the sugar of its sap ; with rather deeply 3 - 5- 

 lobed leaves pale or whitish beneath, the sinuses open and rounded, and the lobes 

 with one or two sinuate coarse teeth ; calyx bell-shaped and hairy-fringed ; 

 wings of fruit ascending, barely 1' long. 



Var. nigrum, BLACK SUGAR M., a form with leaves green or greener 

 and more or less downy beneath, even when old, the sinus at the base apt to be 

 deep and narrow. v 



* * * SOFT MAPLES. Flowers in earliest spring, much preceding the leaves, in 



iimhel-like clusters from separate lateral buds : pedicels at first short, the 

 fruiting ones lengthening and drooping : stamens 3 - 6 : fruit ripe and fall- 

 ing in early summer. 



A. dasycarpum, WHITH or SILVER M. A handsome tree in low 

 grounds, w'ith long and spreading or drooping branches, soft white wood, very 



