ACER 157 



A. ROTUNDILOBUM, Schwerin. 



A hybrid of uncertain origin, although cultivated in Europe for more than 

 half a century. It is probably a cross between A. monspessulanum and 

 A. Opalus var. obtusatum, being intermediate in its various characters between 

 those two maples. Leaves three-lobed, sometimes with two additional, indistinct 

 lobes at the base ; 2^ to 4 ins. long and broad, reddish when young, smooth 

 except for a little dow"n at the base beneath ; pale beneath, dark green above ; 

 lobes shallow, rounded ; leaf-stalk not milky. 



A. RUBRUM, Linnczus. RED MAPLE. 



A deciduous tree, occasionally over 100 ft. high in America, with a trunk up 

 to 13 ft. in girth ; and over 80 ft. high in England, forming a rounded head, of 

 branches ; bark greyish ; branchlets smooth, except when quite young. Leaves 

 three- or five-lobed (the lobes pointed and somewhat triangular, the middle one 

 usually the longest), from 2 to 5 ins. wide, and often longer than broad, coarsely 

 and unevenly toothed ; upper surface dark green, smooth, lower one blue-white 

 and more or less downy, especially along the veins. Flowers appearing in 

 March and early April in dense clusters before the leaves, at the joints of the 

 previous year's wood, or on short spurs of still older wood, rich red, each flower 

 on a reddish stalk at first quite short, but lengthening as the flower and fruit 

 develop. Fruits on slender drooping stalks 2 to 3 ins. long ; wings about f in. 

 long, in. wide, dark dull red spreading at about 60. 



Native of Eastern N. America, and already in cultivation in England by the 

 middle of the seventeenth century. It is a handsome and fairly common tree, 

 the largest in the country, according to Elwes, being in Bagshot Park and 

 over 80 ft. high, with a trunk oJr ft. in girth. There is a considerable resem- 

 blance between this tree and A. dasycarpum, and they are frequently confused. 

 A. rubrum, however, is more compact and of slower growth ; the leaves are 

 not so much or so deeply cut, and the fruits are less than half as large. In the 

 United States this maple produces most beautiful colour effects in autumn, the 

 leaves turning scarlet and yellow. In this country it is not so good, but some- 

 times the leaves change to bright yellow, or dark brownish red, or occasionally 

 red. It should be planted in a moist position. 



Var. DRUMMONDII. Differs in the downy character of the young shoots, 

 leaf-stalks, and under-surface of the leaves. Fruit and flowers bright scarlet, 

 the former larger than in ordinary rubrum. Native of Arkansas, Texas, and 

 Louisiana. 



Var. SANGUINEUM (A. sanguineum, Spach}. The original tree of this variety 

 grew in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. Its leaves are more downy than in the 

 type, the flowers brilliant red, and the leaves richer red in autumn. 



A pyramidal variety is figured in Garden and Forest, 1894, p. 65, growing 

 in private grounds at Flushing, New York, which was then 80 ft. high. (The 

 figure is erroneously described as of a form of sugar maple.) 



A. RUFINERVE, Siebold. 



A small, deciduous tree, with smooth blue-white young shoots. Leaves 

 to 5 ins. long, three-lobed or obscurely five-lobed, truncate or heart- 

 aped at the base ; terminal lobe triangular, larger than jhe side ones, margins 

 finely and irregularly toothed ; upper surface dark green, smooth ; lower one 

 paler, with reddish down along the veins, conspicuous when the leaf is young, 

 but largely falling away by autumn. Flowers in erect racemes about 3 ins. 

 long, each one on a stalk to \ in. long ; the common stalk covered with 



