CHAPTER XVI. 



II. Simple Opposite Leaves. 



2. With teeth. B. Edge divided. 



THE MAPLES. 



The maples are without doubt our handsomest 

 trees in the largest sense of the word ; no others 

 can compare with them in the splendid coloring of 

 their autumnal dress. What surprises our English 

 cousins, on beholding for the first time a New Eng- 

 land landscape in autumn, is the brilliancy of the 

 foliage. More credit is due to the sugar and silver 

 maples for this brilliant color than to all the rest 

 of the trees put together. Scarlet in its purest 

 tones, yellow in its clearest tints, golden orange with 

 hardly a touch of rust — these are hues which the 

 maples almost exclusively possess, and colors which 

 are rarely seen in Old England. 



Exclusive of its noble proportions, symmetry, 



abundant foliage, and broad shadows, the autumnal 



coloring of the sugar maple entitles it to the first 



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