ACERACEAE 



Silver Maple. Soft Maple 



Acer saccharinum, L. [Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh.] 



iHABIT. A beautiful tree, growing to a height of 60-80 feet, 

 with a trunk diameter of 2-4 feet, usually separating near the 

 ground into 3-4 upright stems which are destitute of branches 

 for a considerable distance. Usually the long, slender branches 

 bend downwards, but with their tips ascending in a graceful 

 curve. Crown broad, especially in its upper portion. 



LEAVES. Opposite, simple, 3-6 inehes long and nearly as 

 broad; usually 5-lobed by narrow, acute sinuses which extend 

 nearly to the midrib, the lobes often sublobed, sharply toothed ; 

 light green above, silvery white beneath, turning pale yellow in 

 autumn ; petioles long, slender, drooping. 



FLOWERS. March-April, before the leaves; polygamo- 

 monoecious or dioecious ; 'small, yellow-green, in crowded, sessile 

 umbels; calyx 5-lobed (sometimes each lobe again divided); 

 corolla o; stamens 3-7; ovary hairy. 



FRUIT. May, germinating as soon as it reaches' the ground ; 

 paired samaras, large, glabrous, curving inwards, one samara 

 often aborted. 



WINTER-BUDS. Dark red, blunt; the terminal about % 

 inch long, with bud-scales often apiculate at the apex; flower- 

 buds clustered on side spurs. 



BARK. Twigs smooth, red-gray, lustrous; young trunks 

 gray, smooth; old trunks dark gray, more or less furrowed, 

 separating into thin, loose scales. 



WOOD. .Hard, strong, close-grained, rather brittle, perish- 

 able, pale brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Lower Peninsula south of Saginaw Bay. 



HABITAT. Prefers low, rich bottom-land's, subject to 

 occasional inundation, but not in swamps. 



NOTES. A rapid grower, adapting itself to a variety of 

 soils. Does not do well on dry, elevated ground. The first tree 

 to blossom in early spring. 



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