158 ACER 



reddish down. Keys ^ to f in. long, the nutlets at first covered with reddish 

 down, after-wards smooth ; wings diverging at from 90 to 120. 



Native of Japan ; introduced for Messrs Veitch by Maries, about 1879, and 

 very nearly allied to A. pennsylvanicum, resembling it in shape of leaf, and in 

 the handsome markings of the branches ; but differing in the glaucous young 

 shoots, and in the more conspicuous reddish down beneath the leaves. The 

 foliage sometimes dies off a rich crimson. The young foliage, the leaf-stalk, 

 and midrib are often red. Altogether an attractive maple. 



Var. ALBO-LIMBATUM, Hooker (Bot. Mag., t. 5793)- A singularly beautiful 

 variety, whose leaves have a broad margin (or sometimes the whole surface) 

 entirely covered with spots of white. It was introduced by Mr Standish of 

 Ascot, some years before the type, and was first exhibited by him in 1869. 



A. SACCHARUM, Marshall. SUGAR MAPLE. 



(A. saccharinum, Wangenheim, not Linnceus.') 



A deciduous tree, over 100 ft. high in a wild state, with a trunk 9 to 12 ft. 

 in girth, forming a shapely rounded head of branches ; branchlets smooth 

 Leaves palmate, usually five-lobed, heart-shaped at the base, 4 to 6 ins. wide ; 

 always do\vny in the axils of the chief veins beneath, but varying in different 

 trees from smooth to downy in other parts. Flowers without petals, greenish 

 yellow, produced in clusters, each flower on a thread-like, hairy stalk more than 

 2 ins. long. Fruit smooth ; wings I in. long, in. wide. 



Native of Eastern N. America; introduced, according to Aiton, in 1735, 

 but not many fine specimens are to be found in this country. In the arboietum 

 of Arley Castle, near Bewdley, there are two of the best in the country ; their 

 measurements, according to Hortus Arleyensis^ are : 65 ft. by 3 ft. in girth, and 

 64 ft. by 4 ft. 8 ins. in girth. In leaf, the sugar maple, especially in its more 

 glabrous form, bears some resembla'nce to the Norway maple ; but the sap of 

 the sugar maple is watery, not milky as in the other. 



The famous maple sugar of N. America is obtained almost solely from the 

 sap of this tree. The State of Massachusetts alone used to supply more than 

 half a millon pounds annually. It is obtained by tapping the trees and collecting 

 the juice, which is afterwards evaporated. As an ornamental tree in England 

 this maple never seems to have been a great success, and although it appears 

 to be quite hardy, does not grow quickly. In the streets, and as an isolated tree 

 in the meadows of New England it is magnificent, and forms one of the chief 

 elements in the glorious colour effects of autumn there, its leaves dying off into 

 various shades of orange, gold, scarlet, and crimson, each tree, according to 

 Emerson, retaining year after year its particular shades. 



Var. NlGRUM, Britton. BLACK MAPLE (A. nigrum, Michaux). In this 

 variety the leaves are downy all over the under-surface, and usually remain so 

 till they fall ; they are three-lobed oftener than five-lobed, with the auricles 

 of the heart-shaped base overlapping. According to Sargent, the black maple 

 is easily distinguished in summer by its heavy, drooping leaves, and at all 

 seasons by the orange-coloured branchlets. It has a more western distribution 

 in N. America than the type, and was introduced in 1812. 



Var. MONUMENTALE, Temple, is a form of black maple with a narrow 

 columnar habit. Very striking. 



Var. RUGELII, Rehder.k large tree with thin, three-lobed leaves ; the 

 lobes usually entire, triangular, pointed ; lower surface rather glaucous and 

 downy. Found wild from N. Carolina and Georgia to Missouri, being the 

 common form of sugar maple in that region. The lower branches often bear 

 leaves identical with those of the type. Introduced to Kew in 1908. 



