52 TIMBER TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



Young growth is frequent on moist land, where the forest cover 

 is light, and in old fields. It produces seed at irregular intervals, 

 and for the most part, not abundantly. Trees under a foot in 

 diameter sprout freely from the stump. Yery large specimens 

 are apt to be hollow. 



The deeply cut 5-lobed leaves are pale green above and silvery 

 white beneath. The crowded clusters of greenish-yellow flowers 

 appear before the leaves in early spring, and the pale chestnut- 

 brown winged fruit is prominently netted-veined, and from 1? to 

 3 inches in length. The short thick winter-buds are covered with 

 bright red scales. The silver maple has a small tap-root and 

 numerous strong lateral roots. 



The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, compact, easily worked, 

 and rather brittle ; faintly tinged with brown, with thick sapwood 

 composed of 40 to 50 layers of annual growth. It is sometimes 

 used for cheap furniture and flooring. Maple sugar is occasion- 

 ally made from this tree. 



Acer rubrum, Linneeus. 

 (RED MAPLE. SWAMP MAPLE. MAPLE.) 



A slender tree, with upright branches and dark gray flaky bark, 

 reaching a height of 120 and a diameter of 4^ feet. 



It grows in low, moist situations, from Quebec and the Lake of 

 the Woods southward to the Indian river, Florida, and west to the 

 eastern parts of Dakota, Nebraska, Indian Territory, and Texas; 

 and reaches its best development on the lower Ohio and its trib- 

 utaries. 



In this State it occurs in swamps and low grounds, from the 

 coast to the mountains, but is most abundant in the coastal plain. 



There is a large production of seed about every second year; 

 young trees are always common in damp woods and along streams. 

 Old trees sprout from the stump less rapidly than younger ones. 



The leaves are smaller and not so deeply cleft as those of the 

 silver maple. The flowers, which appear early in spring, are 

 bright scarlet or, less commonly, dull yellowish-red. The winged 

 fruit is scarlet, dark red or brown, i to 1 inch in length ; it ripens 



