Acer. SAI'IXDACK.E. 437 



Alberta, Mncoun ; fl. .M:iv, June ; fr. Anp;iist, Sc|)tciiilicr. A spocies with strikiiiirlv variablo 

 fuliuKC. 



* * Petals cucullate, cousiderably shorter than tlic sepalH : leaves mostly 7-9-lohed. 

 A. Circinatum, ruusH. ( Vink Maim.k.) A small tree or low spreading or even prostrate 

 shrill), witli siuuothish l)r<)wii bark : braiiclilets glai)rous or very early (,'hibrato : leaves of 

 nearly orbicular outline, cordate or sulitruncate at the l)ase, and with 5 to 1 1 short ovate 

 acute or acuminate, sharply serrate lobes, at first villous, at maturity i|uite glabrous except 

 for a tuft of hairs on the upjier surface at the very base wjiere tiie prin(i|.al nerves diverge- 

 the inner bud-scales very large, 1 to 2 inches in lengtii, broadly siiatulale, soft-puljescent, 

 usually rose-colored, somewhat j)ersistent : flowers in nodding or pendulous subsessile or 

 peduncled corymbs : sepals oblong, purple or red : petals small, greenish, ovate, acutish, 

 with strongly inHexed margins: segments of the fruit very wid( ly si)reading or comnionlv 

 divaricate. — Fl. i. 2G7 ; Nutt. Sylv. ii. 80, t. 68 (by error numltered 67) ; 'J'orr. & Grav, fI. 

 i. 247 ; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. i. li2, t. 39; Hrew. & Wats. Hot. Calif, i. 107; Sargent," Silv! 

 ii. 93, t. 38. A. vin/atnm, Raf. New Fl. Am. i. 48. — Rich soil, by streams and in woodland, 

 N. Central California to Brit. Columbia ; fl. April, May. 



§ 3. Rubra, Pax. Flowers appearing before the leaves, polygamous, monoe- 

 cious, or dioecious, with or without petals ; the ^ flowers subsessile or short- 

 pedicelled in capitate or subcapitate clusters ; 9 flowers in sessile umbels . disk 

 rudimentary or obsolete : leaves simple, glaucous beneath. — Pax in P^n^l. Jahrb. 

 vi. 320, & in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenf. iii. Ab. 5, 326. — Soft Maples. 



* Petals present nearly or quite equalling the almost distinct sepals. 

 A. rubrum, L. (Hed or Scarlet Maple.) A tree mostly of small or medium size, but 

 sometimes becoming 3 feet or more in diameter, and 80 to 100 feet in height : bark at length 

 rather thick and deeply fissured, dark gray ; the branchlets grayish brown, nearlv or quite 

 glabrous : leaves 3-.5-lobed, usually rather small, cordate with a narrow sinus, or with 

 rounded base, .soon glabrate and briglit green a])()ve, very j)ale and often with a somewhat 

 persistent tomentum beneath ; lolies triangular-ovate, acute or acuminate, rather evenlv 

 serrate, seldom incised: flowers usually red, rarely (in the formal var. pallidiflorum, I'ax") 

 dull or yellowish green, jjcdicellate, but in anthesis aggregated in dose subcajjitate umbels; 

 these terminal on short l)ranchlcts or sessile in the upjier axils of the last vear's leaves : 

 petals narrower than sepals : ovary nearly or quite glabrous ; fruit long-pedicclled, pendu- 

 lous, glabrous, usually red ; carpels seldom exceeding an inch in length ; wings when imma- 

 ture snbparallel, later diverging at an acute or right angle. — Spec. ii. 10.5.5 ; f^hrh. Peitr. 

 iv. 23 ; Schmidt, Oe.str. Baum. i. 10, t. 6; Michx. f. Hist. Arb. Am. ii. 210, t. 14; Wats. 

 Dendr. Brit. ii. t. 169 ; Emerson, Trees & Shrubs Mass. ed. 2, ii. 551, with plate; Sargent, 

 Silv. ii. 107, t. 94; Gray, PI. For. Trees N. A. t. 20. 1 A. gUiuntm, Marsh. Arb. 2. 

 ? A. Caroliniamim, Walt. Car. 2.51. .1. cocciiieum, Michx. f. 1. c. 203 .1. iiiicrop/ii/lliim, & 

 A. semi-orhicuhitiiin, Pax in Engl. Jahri). vii. 180, 181 (both treated as subspecies bv We.s- 

 mael, 1. c. 29), are founded on trivial differences chiefly of the very variable foliao-e. ' Vars. 

 euruhrum (typical), snnfjuineum, & clmisum. Pax. 1. c. 181, 182, have scarcelv a formal value. 

 — Rich woodland, Newfoundland to Central Florida and Louisiana, northwest to Winnipeg, 

 E. Dakota (ace. to Sargent), and Nel)raska A species of neat and attractive apj)ear- 

 ance at all sea.sons but in early autumn l)ecoming (especially in the Eastern States) verv 

 conspicuous by its bright scarlet foliage. Sterile specimens of a noteworthy form with ovate- 

 lanceolate serrate but scarcely lobed leaves, entire at the ba.se, has been collected in Florida 

 by Cfiapmnn. Toward the south and southwest the species passes into 



Var. Drummondii, Toim. & (iuAV. Leaves ratlier large for the species (often 4 to 

 5 iiulics in length and br('a<ltli) and rather more ileejily 3-lobed, den.sely tomentose beneath : 

 fruit decidedly larger than in the typical form ; wings \\ to 1^ or (ace. to Sargent) even 2 

 to 2^ inches in length. — Fl. i. 684 (Drummondii parenthetical but apparentlv used as a 

 varietal name) ; Sargent, U. S. 10th Census, ix. 50, & Silv. ii. 109, t. 95. .1. hnimmnvdii. 

 Hook. & Arn. Jour. Bot. i. 200; Nutt. Sylv. ii. 83, t. 70. .1. ruhnim, var. y. Hook. & 



Am. 1. c. 199. ? .1. ruhnim, var. lomintosum. Pax in Engl. Jahrb. vii. 182. Louisiana 



where first collected by Drummond, and Te.xas, nortii to Missouri, where leaves become 



