140 TREES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Several of these trees have been cut down, but one of them 

 is still standing and of substantially the dimensions given 

 above. It must have reached the limit of growth a hundred 

 years ago and now shows very evident signs of decrepitude. 

 This may be due, however, to the loss of a square foot or more 

 of bark from the trunk. 



PLATE LXX. ILEX OPACA. 



1. Branch with staminate flowers. 



2. Staminate flower. 



3. Pistillate flower. 



4. Fruiting branch. 



ACEBACE.E. MAPLE FAMILY. 



Acer rubrum, L. 

 RED MAPLE. SWAMP MAPLE. SOFT MAPLE. WHITE MAPLE. 



Habitat and Range. Borders of streams, low lands, wet 

 forests, swamps, rocky hillsides. 



Nova Scotia to the Lake of the Woods. 



Common throughout New England from the sea to an alti- 

 tude of 3000 feet on Katahdin. 



South to southern Florida ; west to Dakota, Nebraska, and Texas. 



Habit. A medium-sized tree, 40-50 feet high, rising occa- 

 sionally in swamps to a height of 60-75 feet ; trunk 2-4 feet 

 in diameter, throwing out limbs at varying angles a few feet 

 from the ground ; branches and branchlets slender, forming 

 a bushy spray, the tips having a slightly upward tendency ; 

 head compact, in young trees usually rounded and symmetri- 

 cal, widest just above the point of furcation. In the first 

 warm days of spring there shimmers amid the naked branches 

 a faint glow of red, which at length becomes embodied in the 

 abundant scarlet, crimson, or yellow of the long flowering 

 stems ; succeeded later by the brilliant fruit, which is outlined 

 against the sober green of the foliage till it pales and falls in 



