Acer. ACERACE.^. 13T 



purplish, usually about 5 together : pedicels 2-3 lines long, in fruit about an inch. Stamens 

 3-6. Ovary woolly. Wings of the fruit 2-3 inches long, slightly falcate, somewhat 

 diverging, one of them often abortive. 



Banks of rivers. Fl. April. Fruit ripe in July and August. This tree is not uncommon 

 in the valley of the Hudson, particularly in the neighborhood of Fishkill Landing. It forms 

 a beautiful shade tree, the silvery white of the under surface of the leaves strongly contrasting 

 with the bright green of the upper, especially when they are agitated by the winds. 



5. Acer rubrum, Linn. Red Maple. Swamp MapU. 



Leaves cordate, whitish and at length usually smooth underneath, 3 - 5-lobed, with the 

 sinuses acute , the lobes acute or acuminate, doubly serrate or incisely toothed, the terminal 

 one longest ; pedicels of the fruit elongated ; petals oblong or linear ; fruit (and ovaries) 

 smooth, the wings slightly falcate, at first converging, at length somewhat spreading. — Michx'. 

 fl. 2. p. 253 ; Willd. sp. 4. p. 984 ; Michx. f. sylv. 1. «. 4U Ell. sk. I. p. 449 ; Torr. fl. 1. 

 p. 395 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 377 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 595 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 244 ; Torr. 

 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. I. p. 249. Acer, &c. Catesb. Car. 1. 1. 62. 



A tree 30 - 60 feet high, sometimes 2 feet or more in diameter ; the wood close-grained, 

 and sometimes of the variety called Curled Maple ; the sap yielding a little sugar ; young 

 branches purplish red. Leaves 2-1 inches wide ; the sinuses scarcely extending to the 

 middle, very pubescent underneath when young, at length downy only on the nerves. Flowers 

 on very short pedicels, red or sometimes yellowish. Calyx nearly as long as the petals, the 

 segments oblong. Petals 3-6, ovate, obtuse. Stamens 5 - 6 : anthers red. Disk lobed, 

 glandular. Pedicels of the fruit 2-3 inches long : wings about an inch in length, usually 

 reddish, sometimes yellowish. 



In swamps and wet woods ; rarely in dry situations. March - April. Fruit mature in 

 September. The wood makes good fuel, but is inferior to that of the Sugar Maple. 



[Floea.] 18 



