268 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



The fruit on prolonged drooping pedicils ripens in early 

 summer about the time the leaves are expanded and then 

 drops off. This is a slender tree somewhat resembling the 

 Soft Maple but of much slower growth and more compact 

 habit. It will finally attain as large size as the Soft Maple. 



Distribution. It is found naturally distributed over about 

 the same area as the Soft Maple, but does not appear to be 

 a common tree anywhere in Minnesota and seems to be wholly 

 absent in the western half of this state. 



Propagation. The Red Maple is propagated in the same 

 manner as the Soft Maple. 



Properties of wood. Heavy, close grained, easily worked 

 and not very strong. It is light brown often tinged with red 

 with a smooth satiny surface. The sapwood is thick and 

 lighter colored than the heartwood. Specific gravity 0.6178; 

 weight of a cubic foot 38.5 pounds. 



Uses. On account of its slow growth the Red Maple is- 

 seldom used for planting, although very hardy. It is, how- 

 ever, very ornamental in the spring when loaded with its 

 brilliant red fruit, which often appears while the branches are 

 still destitute of leaves. And the gorgeous blaze of scarlet 

 coloring of its leaves in autumn makes it a very conspicuous- 

 feature of the landscape at that season It could often be 

 employed to advantage in ornamental planting. The timber 

 is a valuable fuel; it is used for floors, cabinet work, turnery 

 and in the manufacture of shovels, bowls and small wooden 

 ware generally. The curly figure is sometimes found in this 

 wood and is sometimes used for choice veneering. The sap 

 of the Red Maple is not so rich in sugar as that of the Sugar 

 Maple, but produces a very good quality of maple sugar. 



Acer spicatum. Mountain Maple. 



Leaves 3 or slightly 5-lobed, thin, downy on the lower 

 surface, at maturity glabrous above. Flowers small, green- 

 ish yellow, in upright dense, sometimes compound racemes, 

 appearing after the leaves, the fertile towards the base and 

 the sterile at the ends of the racemes; petals much longer than 

 the sepals. Fruit with small erect or divergent wings. With- 

 in our range a low shrub with slender erect branches; in the 

 shade in moist woods the branches are often rather flexible 



