252 BRITISH FOREST TREES 



2. MAPLE OR NORWAY MAPLE (ACER PLATANOIDES, L.) T 

 AND SYCAMORE OR GREAT MAPLE (ACER PSEUDOPLA- 

 TANUS, L.). 



Distribution. The maple extends from 61 62 in 

 Scandinavia throughout central Europe eastwards to the 

 Caucasus, Armenia, and northern Persia, and southwards 

 to the Balkan Peninsula, Dalmatia, central Italy, the 

 Cevennes, and the central Pyrenees, whilst it is not indigen- 

 ous to western Europe, including Great Britain. It does 

 not ascend so high above the sea-level as the sycamore, 

 scarcely attaining an elevation of 1,650 feet in central 

 Germany, 2,350 feet in the Vosges, and not over 4,000 feet 

 in the Bavarian Alps. 



The sycamore extends across central and southern Europe 

 to the Caucasus with a northern limit from the upper 

 Carpathians through Silesia and Saxony, skirting the Harz 

 mountains, and crossing the hilly tracts of western Germany ; 

 owing, however, to extensive artificial introduction and dis- 

 tribution, its natural limit is hard to define exactly. In the 

 Harz it ascends to nearly 2,000 feet, in central Germany 

 to 2,700 feet, and in the Bavarian Alps to a little over 5,000 

 feet on the average. Whilst, therefore, the maple extends 

 further northwards, the sycamore is capable of ascending 

 the hill-sides and thriving at higher elevations. 



Neither maple nor sycamore occur forming pure forests 

 over large areas ; both are naturally better adapted for form- 

 ing groups, or for scattering as patches or individuals 

 throughout high forests of other species of trees. Neither 

 of them is indigenous to Britain, but the sycamore was 

 introduced at least two centuries earlier than the maple, 

 which was brought across during the seventeenth century. 

 Tree-form and Root-system. The sycamore attains a 



