PART VII 

 DECIDUOUS TREES WITH WINGED SEEDS 



The Maples — The Ashes — The Elms 



THE IVIAPLES 



A single genus, cicer, includes from sixty to seventy 

 species, widely distributed over the Northern Hemisphere. 

 A single species goes south of the equator, to the mountains 

 of Java. All produce pale close-grained, fairly hard wood, 

 valued in turnery and for the interior finish of houses. The 

 clear sap of some American species is made into maple 

 sugar. 



The signs by which we may know a member of the maple 

 family are two: opposite, simple leaves, palmately veined 

 and lobed; and fruits in the form of paired samaras, com- 

 pressed and drawn out into large thin wings. No amount 

 of improvement changes these family traits. No other 

 tree has both leaves and fruits like a maple's. 



The distribution of genus acer is interesting. The origi- 

 nal home of the family is in the Far East. In China 

 and Japan we may reckon up about thirty indigo maples, 

 while only nine are native to North America. Of these, 

 five are in the eastern half of the continent, three in the 

 West, and one grows indifferently on both sides of the 

 Great Divide. 



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