FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 387 



or branch. They are not often perfectly bisexual, or strictly of one sex and 

 borne on separate trees. It happens, therefore, that not all trees are seed bear- 

 ing. Flowers are small or minute. Those of some maples are borne in long, 

 conspicuous, many-flowered clusters, while those of others appear in small few- 

 flowered bunches. All maples are dependent for the fertilization of their flowers 

 upon insects, which throng about their nectar and pollen-bearing blooms. 



The fruit (of our representatives) is readily recognized. It is composed of a 

 pair of one-winged seeds, joined together but more or less easily separable when 

 mature. The fruit is ripened in spring or late summer, and is disseminated 

 mainly by wind and flood waters, and to some extent by animals. Seed matured 

 in spring falls shortly after ripening and germinates, while that ripened in late 

 summer remains on the branches through winter, or falls late in autumn and 

 germinates in the spring. The vitality of the seeds is generally transient. 

 the more precocious seeds depending for their life upon reaching a suitable 

 place to sprout shortly after maturity; but the autumn-ripened seed retains 

 its vitality until spring on the cool ground or hanging from twigs in the cold 

 winter air. 



Nearly all maples have fine-grained, dense, evenly and finely porous woods, 

 some of which are hard, often beautifully cui*led and mottled, and highly 

 prized for finishing and cabinet work. 



Of approximately 70 maples known in the world, 13 occur in the United States, 

 and 4 of these inhabit the Pacific region. 



Broadleaf Maple. 



Acer macrophyllum Pursh. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Broadleaf maple is the only large maple tree of the Pacific region, where it is 

 called " Oregon maple " and " bigleaf maple." The name " broadleaf maple," 

 derived from the technical name, seems preferable. It varies greatly in form and 

 height in different soils and situations, from a short-stemmed crooked tree from 

 25 to 30 feet high and under 1 foot in diameter to one from 60 to 80 feet high 

 with a straight, long, clear trunk from 14 to 30 inches through ; occasionally of 

 larger diameter. Open-grown trees have short trunks and broad, dense, round- 

 topped crowns, while those in dense stands produce trunks clear of branches 

 one-half or two-thirds of their height, and a short, narrow crown. Old trunks 

 have rough hark with hard, scaly ridges of a pale grayish to reddish-brown color. 

 Mature leaves (fig. 182), unmistakable in their large size, are thickish, smooth, 

 and somewhat shiny on their top sides, paler green beneath, and 7 inches to 

 occasionally 14 inches wide, witli steins <; to 12 inches long. Befoi'e falling they 

 become clear reddish yellow. The large, drooping clusters of fragrant yellow 

 flowers appear after the leaves are grown. Mature fruit or "seeds" (fig. 182), 

 produced in large quantities by trees in the open and at a comparatively early 

 age, is tawny or yellowish brown when ripe in late autumn, often remaining 

 on the branches until winter or later; body of the seeds covered with sharp 

 bristle-like hairs. Wood, fine-grained, rather hard, firm, light brown with 

 pale tint of red; of an excellent commercial quality and suitable and used for 

 the same purposes as eastern hard maple. A timber tree of the first importance 

 in the Pacific region, where commercial hard wood is scarce. 



Longkvity. — Long-lived, the largest trees attaining an age of from 150 to 200 

 or more years. Forest-grown trees, from 12 to 20 inches in diameter, are from 

 50 to 85 years old. 



