The Maples 



huds: axillary small; terminal larger, red, scaly. Leaves deeply 

 cut, by deep, narrow sinuses, into 5 lobes, each of which has wavy 

 margin, indented into secondary lobes; petioles 10 to 12 inches, 

 slender; blades 8 to 12 inches broad and long, dark green, lustrous 

 above; paler beneath; turn orange-yellow in autumn. Flowers 

 yellow, fragrant, in long racemes in late spring. Fruits paired 

 samaras, ripe in autumn; i^ inches long, with hairy nutlets, but 

 smooth wings, slightly divergent. Preferred habitat, banks of 

 streams and rich bottom lands. Distribution, south coast of 

 Alaska to San Diego, California, Uses: Valuable ornamental 

 and timber tree. Wood used for furniture and interior finish. 



The great leaves that distinguish this species make it a 

 favourite on the Pacific slope. Unfortunately it is not hardy 

 north of Philadelphia, and does better in Europe than in our 

 Eastern States, It really is happiest in the bottom lands of 

 southern Oregon, where it forms forests and attains tremendous 

 proportions. One must see it at home in order to appreciate 

 this maple. 



John Muir, writing of the western slopes of the Cascade 

 Mountains, says: "In a few favoured spots the broad-leaved 

 maple grows to a height of a hundred feet in forests by itself, 

 sending out large limbs in magnificent interlacing arches covered 

 with mosses and ferns, thus forming lofty sky gardens, and 

 rendering the underwoods delightfully cool. No finer forest 

 ceiling is to be found than these maple arches." 



The wood of the broad-leaved maple ranks highest of all 

 deciduous lumber trees on the west coast. It is equal to the best 

 maple of the Eastern States, 



The Vine Maple (Acer circinatum, Pursh.) grows from 

 British Columbia into northern California, and from the low 

 bottom lands to an altitude of 1,000 feet, but always along 

 streams. In the lowlands it throws up several stems from the 

 root, which droop as they grow as if their weight overcame their 

 strength. Branches that spring from these prostrate stems 

 strike root, and soon the interlacing trunks and the branches 

 they bear cover the ground to the exclusion of everything else. 



The vine maple's leaf is thin and almost circular, with a heart- 

 shaped base, and 7 to 9 triangular, cut-toothed lobes, uniform 

 in size and shape. In summer they are green, with prominent 

 veins and veinlets, and pale linings. In autumn they turn to 



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