ACER 139 



of A. Pseudoplatanus is evident in the larger leaf, and in the larger fruit with 

 more divergent wings. It is neat and pleasing in habit, and retains its foliage 

 until December. 



A. CRATyEGIFOLIUM, Sielold. HAWTHORN MAPLE. 



(Flora Japonica, t. 147.) 



A slender, erect-habited, deciduous tree, 25 ft. high ; branchlets smooth 

 Leaves of variable shape, ovate with a truncate or heart-shaped base ; 2 to 4^ ins. 

 long, about half as wide ; irregularly toothed, often three- or even five-lobed, the 

 lobes shallow. When quite young there are tufts of hairs in the axils of the 

 veins ; otherwise they are quite smooth. Flowers yellowish white, in erect, 

 inconspicuous racemes i^ to 2 ins. long, produced in April along with the young 

 leaves. Fruit smooth ; keys f to I in. long ; wings f in. wide, spreading nearly 

 horizontally. 



Native of Japan ; introduced in 1879 by Maries for Messrs Veitch. A small 

 tree at Kew has beautiful bark striped with white lines, after the fashion of 

 A. pennsylvanicum. The resemblance of the leaves to those of a hawthorn is a 

 fanciful one. This maple is allied to A. Davidii and A. distylum, but differs in 

 the shape of the leaves. 



Var. VEITCHII, Nicholson. Leaves handsomely marbled with rose colour 

 and white. 



A. CRETICUM. Linnceus. CRETAN MAPLE. 



(A. heterophyllum, Willdenow.*) 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, rarely 30 to 35 ft. high ; most often a bush 

 8 to 15 ft. high ; branches usually smooth, although in some wild Cretan 

 specimens the young twigs are covered with a close down. Leaves of various 

 shapes, sometimes ovate, sometimes three-lobed ; f to 2 ins. long, the lobes 

 rounded and blunt, but often scarcely apparent ; bright green and quite smooth 

 on both surfaces ; margins entire, or with shallow undulations, or occasionally 

 with a few small teeth. Flowers in few-flowered corymbs less than I in. long, 

 greenish yellow, Fruit with smooth wings i? in. or rather more long, ulti- 

 mately parallel or at an angle of about 60. This maple frequently retains its 

 leaves up to Christmas. 



. Native of the E. Mediterranean region ; introduced in 1752. Probably the 

 largest specimen in the British Isles is in the garden of Syon House, near 

 Brentford. This is now somewhat decrepit, but in its prime was 32 ft. high, 

 and nearly 50 ft. in spread of branches. Some years ago I saw a still finer 

 example in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, which was 35 ft. high. Usually it 

 is a mere bush a few feet in height, and very slow in growth. It is allied to 

 A. monspessulanum, but has no tuft of down in the axils of the leaf-veins. 

 The late Mr G. Nicholson regarded A. heterophyllum as distinct from this 

 species, but I have not been able to detect any reliable difference. A. creticum 

 is a variable species in. the shape of its leaves, and Pax differentiates half a 

 dozen forms, founded probably on dried specimens. But as leaves of several 

 shapes are to be found on the same tree, this is probably an over refinement. 

 I am informed by Mr Lynch of Cambridge that the plant in the Botanic 

 Gardens there (regarded as A. heterophyllum) is now 16 ft. high and 15 ft. 

 through. 



A. DASYCARPUM, Ehrhart. SILVER MAPLE. 

 (A. eriocarpum, Michaux ; A. saccharinum, Linnccjts.') 



A deciduous tree, 90 to 120 ,t. high, with a trunk 9 to 12 ft. in girth in 

 America, and reaching the lesser of these dimensions under cultivation in 



