648 



The Maples 



and 3 to 5 mm. wide, slightly cun-cd, the seed-bearing part about 5 mm. long and 

 very strongly striate. 



II. CAROLINA MAPLE Acer carolinianum Walter 



Acer micro phylliim Pax. Acer tomentosum Pax 



While closely related to the Red maple, this tree of the southern United States 



differs from it so markedly as to 

 warrant its recognition as a species. 

 In New Jersey, where both forms oc- 

 cur, there is no difficulty in telling 

 them apart at a glance when in foli- 

 age. The most northern point at 

 which we have observed the Carolina 

 maple is near Stroudsburg, in eastern 

 Pennsylvania, but it is reported from 

 Massachusetts; it is plenty in south- 

 central New Jersey and thence south 

 to Florida, extending west to Texas 

 and to southern Missouri. 



The bark of the trunk is light 

 gray and relatively smooth. The 

 leaves are dark green on the upper 

 surface, white-glaucous, and more 



Fig. 599. Carolina Maple. 



or less hairy on the under side, at least along the veins, thicker than those of the 

 Red maple, usually 3-lobed and obovate in outline and narrowed or wedge-shaped 

 at the base, but sometimes 5-lobed and nearly orbicular, varying greatly on the 

 same tree; they are rarely ovate and without lobes; the margin is toothed. The 

 fruit closely resembles that of the Red maple, is bright red or sometimes yellow, 

 and is nearly fully grown before the leaves unfold. 



This tree was described by Professor Alphonso Wood as Acer ruhrum variety 

 Iridens, in allusion to its prevailingly 3-lobed leaves. 



12. DRUMMOND'S MAPLE Acer Drummondii Hooker and Arnott 



A tall swamp tree, with scaly bark, occurring from Missouri to Texas and east- 

 ward to Georgia and Florida, attaining a height of at least 30 meters. It is related 

 to the Red maple of the North, and has been regarded by some authors as a form 

 of that tree. 



The young twigs are white-woolly, but soon become smooth. The long-stalked 

 leaves are woolly on both sides at the time of unfolding but soon become smooth 

 and dark green on the upper side, but remain woolly, often densely so, on the lower 

 surface, at least along the veins, until they fall away in the autumn; they are 



