538 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



SILVER MAPLE 



White, River, or Soft Maple. 



Acer saccharinum L. 



A. dasycarpum Ehrh. 



HABIT A good sized tree 50-60 ft. high with trunk diameter of 

 2-5 ft.; dividing near the ground into several slightly spreading limbs 

 which branch further up, forming a very wide, broad-topped head. 

 Lateral branchlets strongly tend to grow downward and then curve 

 sharply upward at their tips. 



BARK Smooth, gray, with reddish tinge on young trunks and 

 branches; on older trunks reddish-brown more or less furrowed; the 

 surface separating into long thin flakes which become free at the ends 

 and flake off exposing the redder inner layers. 



TWIGS Similar to those of Red Maple but with a distinct rank odor 

 when freshly cut or broken. 



LEAF-SCARS Similar to those of Red Maple. 



BUDS Similar to those of the Red Maple but generally somewhat 

 larger, the flower buds more densely clustered with a larger number of 

 buds in a cluster. 



FRUIT Large, 4-7 cm. long, wings spreading, in lateral clusters, 

 ripening in early spring and therefore difficult to find in winter. 



COMPARISONS The Silver Maple closely resembles the Red Maple i 

 twig characters but can be readily distinguished from the latter b 

 the rank odor of the fresh twigs when broken. The flakiness of the 

 bark of the Silver Maple is also distinctive. The bending down of the 

 branchlets with a sharp upward curve at their tips while much more 

 marked in the Silver Maple occurs to a certain extent in the Red and 

 therefore cannot be depended upon alone as a distinctive character. If 

 the flower buds be dissected out and examined with a hand-lens the 

 immature flowers of the Silver Maple will be found to be surrounded by 

 a cup-like calyx which in the Red Maple is made up of separate 

 divisions. See under Red Maple for Comparisons with other species. 



DISTRIBUTION Along river banks and In moist deep-soiled woods, 

 not typically in swamps; often planted for ornament under the name 

 of White Maple. Infrequent from New Brunswick to Ottawa, abundant 

 from Ottawa throughout Ontario; south to the Gulf states; west to 

 Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory; attaining its 

 maximum size in the basins of the Ohio and its tributaries; rare 

 towards the seacoast throughout the whole range. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Occasional throughout; most common and best 

 developed upon the banks of rivers and lakes at low altitudes. 



IN CONNECTICUT Frequent Inland along the larger streams, rare 

 elsewhere. 



"WOOD Hard, strong, close-grained, easily worked, rather brittle, pale 

 brown with thick sapwood of 40-50 layers of annual growth; now some- 

 times used for flooring and in the manufacture of furniture. Sugar is 

 occasionally made from the sap. 



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