644 



The Maples 



Dwarf Maple. 



across, 3-lobed or 5-lobed, or often 3-parted, 

 rather dark green above, and apple-green on 

 the under side, the lobes pointed or blunt, 

 sharply toothed, the middle lobe narrowed at 

 the base, rhombic in outline. The flowers are 

 mostly dioecious, in small sessile or short- 

 stalked corymbs or cor}'mb-Uke racemes, open- 

 ing in May; the sepals are blunt, oblong or ob- 

 long-spatulate, petal-hke; the petals are oblong 

 or linear-oblong, yellow-green, and vary from 

 haK as long to about the length of the sepals; 

 the stamens, even those of the sterile flowers, 

 are not longer than the sepals; the samaras are 

 smooth, shining, 1.5 to 3 cm. long, more or less 

 diverging, the wing 8 to 12 mm. wide. 



The wood is close-grained, light brown and 

 hard, with a specific gravity of about 0.60; it is 

 not of commercial importance. 



7. DOUGLAS' MAPLE Acer Douglasii Hooker 



Douglas' maple much resembles the Dwarf maple, and has been considered 

 by several authors as not at all different from that species, but a study of many 

 specimens of both leads us to re- 

 gard the two as distinct. It ranges 

 from Alaska through British Co- 

 lumbia to Alberta, Montana, Idaho, 

 and Oregon. While usually a bush, 

 it sometimes attains the habit of a 

 tree and reaches a height of about 

 10 meters. 



The bark is smooth and red- 

 brown, the twigs purple. The leaves 

 differ from those of the Dwarf maple 

 in being relatively large, often 8 to 

 10 cm. across, and as a rule are less 

 lobed, although sometimes 

 ^^e middle lobe is, how- 



tiic 



Fir.. 594. Douglas' Maple. 



itlinc, little or not at all nar^ wer at the base than above it; the 



harply toothed all a und, pale green beneath, dark green 



' vcUow dioeciouf tlowers are borne in short corymb-like 



'eaves are partly grown; the stamens of the 



^ spatulate or nearly linear sepals and petals. 



