NATURE STUDY MADE EASY 



41 



The maple blooms early in the summer, but its flowers have no 

 petals; only stamens and pistils. Often one maple tree will have 

 all staminate flowers, and another maple tree will have all pistillate 

 flowers. 



The flowers hang on slender threads and look like fringes. 

 This is to enable the wind easily to blow the pollen from the 

 staminate flowers on to the pistillate flowers, to ripen them. The 

 staminate flowers then disappear, 

 but the pistillate flowers form seeds, 

 which are almost as pretty as the 

 flower fringes. 



The seed of the maple is called 

 a samara, and consists of a seed pod 

 with a wing. Generally two pods 

 grow together, but when they are 

 thoroughly dry and ripe, they fall 

 apart. The wings are thin and light, 

 and are easily carried to a distance 

 by the wind, till they fall to the 

 soft earth and sink into the ground. 

 There they lie all winter, but as soon as spring returns, and 

 the note of the bluebird is heard, the little brown seeds swell 

 under the warm rays of the sun, and burst their seed coats 

 and send up a pair of green leaves. This is the new maple 

 tree. The root grows downward, and by and by a seedling 

 appears. 



MAPLE KEY 



MAPLE FRINGE 



