MAPLE. 345 



Uses. On account of its slow growth the Red Maple is 

 seldom used for planting, although very hardy. It is, however, 

 very ornamental in the spring when loaded with its brilliant red 

 fruit, which often appears while the branches are still destitute 

 of leaves, and the gorgeous blaze of scarlet coloring of its leaves 

 in autumn makes it a very conspicuous feature of the landscape 

 at that season. It could often be employed to advantage in 

 ornamental planting. The timber is a valuable fuel; it is used 

 for floors, cabinet work, turnery, and in the manufacture of 

 shovels, bowls and small wooden ware generally. The curly 

 figure is sometimes found in this wood, and is sometimes used 

 for choice veneering. The sap of the Red Maple is not so rich 

 in sugar as that of the Sugar Maple, but produces a very good 

 quality of maple sugar. 



Acer spicatum. Mountain Maple. 



Leaves three or slightly five-lobed, thin, downy on the lower 

 surface, at maturity glabrous above. Flowers small, greenish 

 yellow, in upright dense, sometimes compound racemes, ap- 

 pearing after the leaves, the fertile towards the base and the 

 sterile at the ends of the racemes; petals much longer than the 

 sepals. Fruit with small erect or divergent wings. Within 

 our range a low shrub, with slender erect branches; in the 

 shade in moist woods the branches are of,ten rather flexible, and 

 it is probably on this account that it is given the name of Vine 

 Maple in some parts of this section. 



Distribution. Valley of the St Lawrence to northern Minne- 

 sota and the Saskatchewan, southwards through the mountains 

 to Georgia. Common in Minnesota south to Mille Lacs. 



Propagation. By seeds. 



Properties of wood. Light, soft, light brown with thick lighter 

 colored sapwood. Specific gravity 0.5330; weight of a cubic 

 foot 33.22 pounds. 



Uses. The Mountain Maple may occasionally be used to ad- 

 vantage in shrubbery in shady situations. The tree is so small 

 that the wood is of no special economic importance. 



