148 TREES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Acer spicatum, Lam. 

 MOUNTAIN MAPLE. 



Habitat and Range. In damp forests, rocky highland woods, 

 along the sides of mountain brooks at altitudes of 500-1000 

 feet. 



From Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to Saskatchewan. 



Maine, common, especially northward in the forests ; New 

 Hampshire and Vermont, common ; Massachusetts, rather 

 common in western and central sections, occasional eastward ; 

 Rhode Island, occasional northward ; Connecticut, occa- 

 sional in northern and central sections ; reported as far south 

 as North Branford (New Haven county). 



Along mountain ranges to Georgia. 



Habit. Mostly a shrub, but occasionally attaining a height 

 of 25 feet, with a diameter, near the ground, of 6-8 inches; 

 characterized by a short, straight trunk and slender branches ; 

 bright green foliage turning a rich red in autumn, and long- 

 stemmed, erect racemes of delicate flowers, drooping at length 

 beneath the weight of the maturing keys. 



Bark. Bark of trunk thin, smoothish, grayish-brown ; 

 primary branches gray ; branchlets reddish-brown streaked 

 with green, retaining in the second year traces of pubescence; 

 season's shoots yellowish-green, reddish on the upper side 

 when exposed to the sun, minutely pubescent. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds small, flattish, acute, slightly 

 divergent from the stem. Leaves simple, opposite, 4-5 inches 

 long, two-thirds as wide, pubescent on both sides when unfold- 

 ing, at length glabrous on the upper surface, 3-lobed above 

 the center, often with two small additional lobes at the base, 

 coarsely or finely serrate, lobes acuminate ; base more or less 

 heart-shaped ; veining 3-5-nerved, prominent, especially on 

 the lower side, furrowed above ; leafstalks long, enlarged at 

 the base. 



Inflorescence. June. Appearing after the expansion of the 

 leaves, in long-stemmed, terminal, more or less panicled, erect 



