540 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



RED MAPLE 



Swamp, Soft or White Maple. 

 Acer rubrum L. 



HABIT A medium sized tree, 40-50 ft. high, occasionally in swamps 

 reaching 75 ft. in height, with trunk diameter of 2-4 ft; branching low 

 down and forming an oblong, rather compact head, frequently largest at 

 the top but sometimes broad at the base. Branches slender 

 as well as branchlets, the latter showing slight tendency to turn up at 

 their tips; upper branches appearing decidedly gray and often resembling 

 those of the Beech if viewed with the light. 



BARK Smooth, light gray on young trunks and branches; on older 

 trunks very dark gray, roughened into long ridges, sometimes some- 

 what shaggy and separating in long plates. (See right hand bark 

 photograph). 



TWIGS Rather slender, bright or dark red, shining; odorless when 

 cut. LENTICELS numerous, conspicuous. PITH pinkish toward upper 

 part at least of each year's growth beyond the second. 



LEAP-SCARS Broad, U to V-shaped, adjacent edges not meeting. 

 BUNDLE-SCARS 3. 



BUDS Red, blunt-pointed, broadly oval-ovate to spherical in flower 

 buds, generally under 5 mm. long, short-stalked; flower buds numerous, 

 stout, collateral (one on either side of smaller axillary bud). BUD- 

 SCALES 4 pairs or generally fewer visible with pale hairs on margins, 

 outer pair of scales not over half covering the bud. 



FRUIT Small, generally under 3 cm. long, wings spreading, in lateral 

 clusters, ripening in spring and therefore difficult to find in winter. 



COMPARISONS The Red Maple closely resembles the Silver Maple 

 in the winter condition. See Silver Maple under Comparisons for 

 differences. The Red and the Silver Maple are distinguishable from our 

 other Maples except the Box Elder by presence of collateral buds, and 

 the numerous clusters of these flower buds give a characteristic beaded 

 appearance to the twigs against the sky; from the Striped and Mountain 

 Maples by the larger number of scales exposed in the bud; from the 

 Striped and the Norway and Sycamore Maples by much smaller buds; 

 from the Mountain Maple and the Box Elder by their smooth outer bud- 

 scales; from the Sugar Maple by their red twigs and by their red, blunt 

 buds with few scales. See under Sugar Maple. 



DISTRIBUTION Borders of streams, In low lands, wet woods and 

 swamps or sometimes in dry ground, of rapid growth and a favorite 

 for park planting but usually not adapted to city streets. Nova Scotia 

 to the Lake of the Woods; south to southern Florida; west to Dakota, 

 Nebraska and Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Common throughout from the sea to an altitude 

 of 3,000 ft. on Katahdin. 



IN CONNECTICUT Common. 



WOOD Very heavy, close-grained, not strong, light brown often 

 slightly tinged with red, with thick, rather lighter colored sapwood; 

 used in large quantities in the manufacture of chairs and other furni- 

 ture, in turnery, for wooden-ware and gun-stocks. 



