AMERICAN FOREST TREES 441 



Oregon maple is converted into flooring of the ordinary tongued 

 and grooved kind, and also into parquet flooring. Rotary veneers are 

 made into boxes and baskets. Solid logs are turned for rollers of various 

 sizes and kinds. Mill yards use them for offbearing lumber, and house 

 movers find them about the best local material to be had. This maple 

 has been successfully stained in imitation of mahogany, and is said to 

 pass satisfactory tests where the color is the principal consideration 



The amount of this species available in the Northwest is not defi- 

 nitely known, but it is a relatively scarce wood. No attention has ever 

 been given to planting it as a commercial proposition. It is not of very 

 rapid growth, and unless it is hi dense stands, it develops a short trunk 

 and large crown. It is better suited for shade and ornament, and is to be 

 seen as a street tree in some western towns. It does not flourish in the 

 eastern states, but has found the climate of western Europe more con- 

 genial and is occasionally found as an ornamental tree there. 



The relative importance of this maple in the state of Washington is 

 indicated by the amount used annually compared with certain other 

 hardwoods. In 1911 the consumption of willow was 2,000 feet, vine 

 maple 10,000, Oregon ash 58,000, Oregon oak 197,000, western birch 

 315,000, Oregon maple 932,500, red alder 1,881,500, and black cotton- 

 wood 32,572,200. 



VINE MAPLE (Acer circinatum) is sometimes called mountain 

 maple, though the name is misleading. It may grow among mountains, 

 but always near streams. It is found at various altitudes from near sea 

 level to 5,000 feet above. It ranges from the coast region of British 

 Columbia southward through Washington and Oregon to Mendocino 

 county, California. This tree is more useful than might be inferred from 

 its name, or even from a study of it in its usual form. Only an occasional 

 tree is good for the wood user. A height of twenty feet and a diameter 

 of six inches are above the average. It is called vine maple because of 

 its habit of sprawling on the ground like a vine. The trunk lacks 

 sufficient stiffness to hold it erect. It grows upward to a certain point, 

 then leans over and the branches lie on the ground. Some of them take 

 root and in course of time what was first a single stem becomes a thicket 

 of branches and stems. The winter snow often has much to do with 

 bending the trunk, which appears to have no power to get back to the 

 perpendicular when once bowed down. The damp situation where this 

 tree thrives best, induces a luxuriant growth of moss and mold which 

 help to bury the branches that lie on the ground. 



The tree prospers in deep shade. The young leaves are rose red, 

 and in the fall become yellow or scarlet. The fruit is the characteristic 

 maple key. The wing becomes rose-red before falling in autumn. 



