78 TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



in early summer. The twigs and leaf-stalks are also 

 red, and in autumn, the foliage turns a fine scarlet. 

 This maple is a more desirable shade tree than the 

 above, but is more subject to scale than the Sugar 

 Maple. There are two kinds of flowers, male and fe- 

 male, which are borne on the same tree or different 

 trees. Sometimes a single branch or a few twigs of a 

 tree will bear fruit, the remainder being barren. Dates 

 of flowering: March 2, 1908; March 3, 1910; March 

 16, 1912; February 20, 1913; February 21, 1915; 

 April 7, 1916. 



125. Acer carolinianum Walt. Carolina Red Maple. 



This is a near relative of the Red Maple and is so 

 similar to it that with the exception of extreme forms 

 they are not always easy to distinguish. The leaves 

 are usually smaller than those of the Red Maple, and 

 are thicker and less lacerated, both lobes and teeth 

 being less prominent and usually fewer. The lower 

 side is typically covered with a white or rusty tomen- 

 tum, but this may almost disappear in age. The 

 fruits are like those of the Red Maple. The Caro- 

 lina Maple is the only species of Maple over the 

 greater part of the coastal plain. In Chapel Hill we 

 have almost the typical form of this tree growing in 

 marshes, as in the north west corner of Rocky Ridge 

 Farm, but many intermediate forms also occur that 

 cannot confidently be referred to either this or the 

 Red Maple. 



