Handbook of Trees of the N^oktiiekn States and Canada. 325 



The stately Sugar .Maple in the forest some- 

 times attains the hoiglit of 100 ft. or more 

 with trunk from :i to 5 ft. in diameter, and 

 when isolated develops a distinctly ovoid or in 

 very old trees a broad rounded lup of many 

 branches and dense foliaye. it is without 

 doubt the most valuable hard-wood tree in 

 America, taking into consideration the abun- 

 dance of maple sugar it produces, the choice 

 figured woods and the valuable plain wood 

 excellent in manufactures and for fuel and rich 

 in potash. It is abundant on well-drained 

 uplands, particularly northward, in company 

 with the Beech, Yellow Birch, Hemlock, Black 

 Cherry, etc., and sometimes forms almost ex- 

 clusive forests. 



Its clear sweet sap is gathered in early 

 spring and evaporated to make the maple 

 sugar, 12 or 13 quarts of sap making a pound 

 of sugar, and 3— t lbs. to a tree being an aver- 

 age yield. I have made 23 lbs. in one season 

 from a single tree tapped but once, which is 

 an exceptionally good record that I have never 

 known surpassed. The Bird's-eye and Blister 

 Maple are almost exclusively and the Curly 

 Maple largely products of this ti-ee — unac- 

 countable freaks in the development of indi- 

 vidual trees. 



A cu. ft. of the wood when absolutely dry 

 weighs 43.08 lbs.-* 



Leaves "o-lobed with rounded sinuses and 

 acuminate sparingly sinuate-toothed, lobes, heart- 

 shaped or rounded at base, pubescent at first and 

 at maturity glabrous dark green above, paler be- 

 neath, turning yellow and scarlet in autumn. 

 Flowers appearing with the leaves in hairy ses- 

 sile droopiug corymlis with long slender greenish 

 yellow pedicels : calyx cainpaiiiilate ; corolla none. 

 Fruit ripening in autniiui : samaras glabrous, with 

 slightly divergent wings nearly 1 in. long.^ 



Var. Ifiii/elii Rebd. is a form commonly found in 

 the southern states, and rarely in the northern, 

 with firm thick I'.-lobed leaves having open rounded 

 sinuses and entire acuminate lobes. 



1. Syn. Acer saccharin tint Wang. A. harhafiun 

 Michx. 



2. A. W., I, 7, la and 7b. 



3. For genus see pp. 440-447. 





