The Sugar Maple 



The flowers appear in May with the leaves. [The young 

 fruits are now (July) abundant. Each fruit consists of two 

 winged " samaras," forming a maple " key." One capsule of 

 the key is usually seedless. The fruits will mature in early 

 September, and are abundantly disseminated by the wind. 



The sugar maple has a fine big trunk, and in undisturbed 

 forests often reaches a height of 120 feet. On old trees the 

 bark is dark in color, shaggy, with deep longitudinal furrows. 

 The wood is light reddish brown, heavy, hard, strong, tough 

 and close-grained, and takes a fine polish. It is much used 

 for furniture, fine flooring and interior finishing, bowling 

 alleys, etc. The " curly " and " bird's-eye " types are choice 

 and well-known varieties. 



The sugar maple is the chief shade tree of Chautauqua, and 

 fully deserves our utmost care in the matters of pruning and 

 preservation. 



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