NEQUNDO. XLI1. ACERACE^E. 213 



color, as also the fruit. The wood is white, softer and less esteemed than that 

 of other snecies. The sap yields sugar in smaller proportion than the sugar 

 maple. 



3. A. sACCHARlNUM. Sugar Maple. Rock Maple. 



Lvs. palmately 5-lobed, subcordate at base, acuminate, remotely toothed, 

 with rounded and shallow sinuses, glaucous beneath ; fls. pedunculate, pendu- 

 lous. This fine tree is found throughout U. S., but most abundant in the primi- 

 tive soils of N. England, constituting the greater part of some of its forests. 

 It is a tree of lofty proportions, 70f in height, with a trunk 3f diam. The bark 

 is of a light-gray color, rough and scaly. The branches become numerous and 

 finely ramified in open situations, and in summer are clothed with a foliage 

 of uncommon luxuriance and beauty, on which account it is more extensively 

 cultivated as a shade tree than any other, not even excepting the majestic and 

 favorite elm. Maple sugar, perhaps the most delicious of all sweets, is mostly 

 the product of this species. An ordinary tree will yield 5 10 pounds in a sea- 

 son. The wood is very strong and compact, and makes the best of fuel. It is 

 sometimes curled like the red maple, but oftener presents that beautiful ar- 

 rangement of fibre, called bird's-eye maple, which is highly esteemed in cabinet- 

 work. The flowers are exceedingly abundant, and, suspended on long, thread- 

 like pedicels, are most delicately beautiful. Apr. 



4. A. NIGRUM. Mich. f. Slack Maple. Sugar Tree. 



Lvs. palmately 5-lobed, cordate r with the sinus closed, lobes divaricate, 

 sinuate-dentate, paler beneath, with the veins beneath and petioles pubescent ; fls. 

 corymbose, on long, slender pedicels ; fr. glabrous, turgid at base, the wings 

 diverging. A large tree, in mountainous situations, Vt. to la. ! Resembles the 

 last, but is distinct. Bobbins., Tally. Trunk 3050f high, with a shaggy 

 bark. Leaves 3 5' diam., dark-green above, the 2 inferior lobes much smaller. 

 Flowers pendulous, on long peduncles, yellowish. Fruit with wings 1' in 

 length, pale-yellow, and more diverging than in A. saccharinum. The sap, 

 like the last mentioned tree, yields sugar abundantly. Apr. 



Flowers in racemes. Mostly shrubs. 



5. A. PENNSYLVANICUM. (A. striatum. Lam.) Striped Maple. Whistle-wood. 

 Lvs. with 3 acuminate lobes, rounded at base, sharply denticulate, smooth ; 



rac, simple, pendulous. A small tree or shrub 10 15f high, Can. to Ga., and 

 Ky., but most abundant in our northern wodds. The bark is smooth, and beau- 

 tifully striped length-wise with green and black. Flowers large, yellowish- 

 green, succeeded by long clusters of fruit, with pale-green wings. The smaller 

 branches are straight and smooth, easily separated from the bark in spring, and 

 are often manufactured by the boys into certain wind instruments. Hence it 

 is called whistle-wood. In Europe it is prized in ornamental gardening. May. 



6. A. SPJCATUM. Lam. Mountain Maple Busk. 



Lvs. about 5-lobed, acute, dentate, pubescent beneath; rar.. erect, com- 

 pound. A shrub of smaller stature than the last, found in mountain or hilly 

 woods throughout the country. The bark is a light gray. Leaves small, rough, 

 divided into 3 or 5 lobes, which are somewhat pointed, with large, sharp teeth, 

 and more or less cordate at base. Flowers greenish, numerous and minute, in 

 cylindric, oblong, close, branched clusters, becoming pendulous with the winged 

 fruit. Jn. 



7. A. PSEUDO-PLATANUS. Sycamore. Lvs. cordate, 5-lobed, glabrous and 

 glaucous beneath, segments or lobes acute, unequally dentate ; fls. in long, 

 pendulous racemes; samara glabrous. Native -of Northern Europe. An orna- 

 mental tree, 40 50f high, with very large, dark green leaves. A beautiful 

 variety with striped leaves is also cultivated. Apr. May. f 



2. NEGUNDO. Moench. 



Flowers 9 cP ; corolla ; 9 flowers racerned, c? fascicled ; calyx, 

 stamens and fruit as in the last genus. Leaves compound, pinnately 

 35-foliate. 



