ACERACEAE 



Striped Maple. Moosewood. Whistlewood 



Acer pennsylvanicum, L. 



HABIT. A small tree at best, more often a large shrub, 

 seldom attaining a height of more th,an 30 feet, with a short trunk 

 5-8 inches through. The striped, upright brandies form a rather 

 compact crown. 



LEAVES. Opposite, simple, 5-6 inches long and nearly as 

 broad; 3-lobed above the middle with short, tapering lobes; 

 palmately 3-nerved; sharply doubly serrate; rounded or 'heart- 

 shaped ,at the base ; glabrous, yellow-green above, paler beneath, 

 turning pale yellow in autumn ; petioles stout, grooved. 



FLOWERS. May-June, when the leaves are nearly full 

 grown; usually monoecious; large, bright yellow, bell-shaped, in 

 slender, drooping racemes 4-6 inches long; calyx 5-parted; petals 

 5 ; stamens 7-8 ; ovary downy. 



FRUIT. Ripens in autumn; glabrous, paired samaras in 

 long, drooping, racemose clusters, the wings $4 inch long, widely 

 divergent, and marked on one side of each nutlet by a small 

 cavity. 



WINTER-BUDS. Bright red; terminal bud nearly ^ inch 

 long, short-stalked, with bud-scales keeled; lateral buds smaller, 

 appressed. 



BARK. Twigs light green, mottled with black, smooth; 

 trunk and branches red-brown, marked longitudinally by broad, 

 pale stripes. 



WOOD. Light, soft, close-grained, pinkis'h brown, with 

 thick, lighter colored sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Abundant in the Upper Peninsula, ex- 

 tending southward as far as Roscommon County in the Lower 

 Peninsula. 



HABITAT. Cool, rocky or sandy woods, usually in the 

 shade of other trees. 



'NOTES. In die Northwoods the green shoots are browsed 

 by deer and moose. Valued mostly for its aesthetic qualities. 

 Of little or no economic value. 



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