The Maples 



The Black Maple, or Black Sugar Maple (Acer nigrum, 

 Michx.), is now counted a distinct species, but was long regarded 

 as a variety of Acer Saccharum. The best year-round character 

 to look for is the orange colour of the stout branchlets. The 

 tree's head is less compact and has a duller, darker green foliage 

 mass than that of the hard maple. The leaves vary much in 

 size and shape, but in general have three pointed lobes with 

 broad, shallow sinuses and scantly toothed or unbroken margins; 

 the basal sinus is often closed by the overlapping of its sides. 

 The leaf is usually green on both sides, and smooth, with hairy 

 tufts along the principal veins below, and on the petioles. The 

 drooping of the leaves is very noticeable, as if the stout petioles 

 were too weak to support their burden. The samaras differ from 

 those of the previous species in having more widely divergent 

 wings. 



The black maple predominates over A. Saccharum in the 

 Western prairie states. It is the sugar maple of South Dakota and 

 Iowa. In the East, it is a rare tree. It ranges from Montreal 

 to Ontario and to the Dakotas, and from New Hampshire and 

 Vermont south to lower Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and eastern 

 Kansas. It is an admirable shade and sugar tree, and its wood 

 has the characteristics of the rock maple. 



The Florida Maple {Acer Floridanum, Pax.) is smaller 

 than our Northern hard maple, and differs from it in its small 

 3-lobed leaves, with blunt or faintly 3-lobed apexes, and pale, 

 hairy linings. The fruits are also small. This tree varies con- 

 siderably, and grows along streams and swamps, throughout the 

 Gulf States. 



The Large-toothed Maple {Acer grandidentaia, Nutt.) 

 resembles the last species, but its leaves are leathery and have 

 very wide sinuses and very short petioles. It is found on the 

 mountains from Montana to Mexico. 



The two species named above are considered by some authors 

 to be varieties of the Eastern rock maple. 



Three Little Maples 



There are a few members of the great maple family which 

 do not share the lofty aspirations of the majority. They are 

 to be sought in thick forests of mixed hardwoods, and they do 



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