130 



The sugar maple is the largest and finest of the family. In deep woods, 

 where it grows with the beech, birch, basswood, hemlock, ash, and other 

 trees, it often reaches a height of more than one hundred feet, and has 

 a trunk perhaps four feet in diameter which rises straight and full without 

 a limb for more than half the height of the tree. Such a tree is in great 

 contrast to those growing along the roadside, which are shorter and large- 

 crowned and which have so many branches that it is difficult to find any 

 one stem that seems to be the leader. Why does the maple tree growing 

 in the open, where it has plenty of room, form such a round-headed crown, 

 with no well-defined leader? Study the method of branching and see 

 whether you can find out. 



The red maple can be distinguished from the sugar maple by its leaves 

 in summer and by its buds in winter. The two kinds are contrasted in 

 the drawings. Note that the lobes of the leaves (of which three are usually 

 very conspicuous) are separated by U-shaped depressions, or sinuses, 

 in the case of the sugar maple, and by V-shaped sinuses in the red maple. 

 The buds of the sugar maple are long, pointed, and of a brown color, 

 while those of the red maple are shorter, rounded, and red in color. These 

 marks will serve as a means of identification at any time of the year. 

 The red maple prefers a wet, swampy soil, while the hard maple thrives 

 in a rich, cool, well-drained soil. 



The silver maple has a very beautiful leaf, by which it can always be 

 recognized in summer. Notice, in the drawing, how deeply and finely 

 the leaves are cut; this gives to the tree its peculiar delicacy and makes 

 it desirable for decorative purposes. In fact, the tree is of little use 

 except as an ornament ; the wood is soft, weak, and brittle when compared 

 with that of the sugar maple. 



The mountain maple and the moosewood (or striped maple) are very 

 humble members of the maple family, rarely growing to be more than 

 shrubs ; but they add greatly to the beauty of the woods as we know them 

 in the North. Both these maples are common in the woods of New York, 

 especially in the Catskills, the Adirondacks, and other hilly parts of the 

 State. Favorite situations for these maples are steep, rocky slopes, 

 where there is plenty of moisture, as on the north side of hills or mountains. 

 The leaves are much like the leaves of other maple trees; those of the 

 mountain maple resemble those of the red maple, but the little veins 

 on the former are much more noticeable and the underside of the leaf 

 is covered with a whitish down, which is absent from the red maple. 

 Another character that will serve to distinguish this little maple from 

 the red maple is the seed. The flowers of the mountain maple appear 

 in clusters, which botanists call "racemes"; that is, there are several 

 flowers borne on a central axis and they begin to blossom at the bottom 



