NEWER DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 457 



small habit of growth, yet it is very ornamental, the leaves 

 resembling somewhat in size and color those of A. campestre : 

 the flowers are pale, and are very attractive to bees. In mild 

 seasons, in Europe, the leaves remain on the tree until mid- 

 winter, and on this account it is much planted in France for 

 hedges. It rarely attains a greater height than thirty to forty 

 feet, and is readily propagated by seeds or by layers. 



A. p laciniata (Cut-leaved or eagle's claw). A very curious 

 low growing tree, with the lobes of its leaves jagged and some- 

 what resembling, as its name implies, the foot or claw of an 

 eagle. It is one of the varieties of A. pseudo-platanus, and 

 comes in well with the cut-leaved ash, beech, and other trees 

 with this peculiar foliage. 



A. p. foliis purpurcis (the Purple-leaved maple). Another 

 sport or variety of A. pseudo-platanus^ very peculiar and striking 

 when the wind blows, the leaves having a fine purple under- 

 neath, and being ruffled by the breeze, presenting a curious 

 blending of purple and pale green ; the foot-stalks to the leaves 

 are quite distinctly pink. This tree is commonly known in the 

 nurseries as the Purple Jersey maple, it having originated in a 

 nursery in that island in 1828. Plants raised from seed sport 

 so much in color that sometimes they become quite green. On 

 this account, specimens for planting should be selected from 

 the nursery rows while in leaf. 



A. p. Turtaiica (Tartarian maple) ; A. Greticum (Cretan 

 Maple), Hodgkins' Seedling, with yellow blotched leaves; A. 

 punctata, with spotted leaves, and several others, are only sports 

 or varieties of A. pseudo-platanus, and have not yet, to our 

 knowledge, been planted in the United States. 



jEsculus hippocastanum. THE HORSE-CHESTNUT. 



JE. h. Flore plena (Double-flowering horse-chestnut). A 

 beautiful variety of ^. hippocastanum, resembling it in character 

 and foliage, but with the flowers double and very full, not unlike 

 at a distance, a gigantic hyacinth. The tree seems perfectly 

 hardy, and has the additional advantage of flowering when very 

 young. 



