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On the ridge to the northeast of the apple family, and to 
the west of conservatory range 2, are trees of the ailan- 
thus family, represented by the Ailanthus, or tree-of- 
heaven, a native of China, but extensively naturalized in 
the eastern parts of the United States, where in some places 
it has become a nuisance, both on account of its ill-smelling 
staminate flowers and its habit of freely suckering from 
the roots. 
On the ridge to the west of conservatory range 2 are 
representatives of the maple family. The maples (Acer) are 
represented by a number of species. Perhaps the most im- 
portant of these is the sugar, or rock maple, a native of 
eastern North America, and the principal tree yielding 
maple sugar and syrup. The sap is usually collected from 
late in February to early in April; trees from twenty to 
thirty years old are considered the most productive, and a 
tree will usually yield in a season from four to six pounds of 
sugar, some giving less and others much more. This tree 
is often planted for shade along streets and in parks, its 
beautiful coloring in the fall enhancing its value for this 
purpose. Its wood is largely used for making furniture, 
in ship-building, for tool-handles and for shoe-lasts and 
pegs. From the southeastern United States comes the 
white-barked sugar maple, also in the collection. Another 
tree here is the red maple, ranging throughout eastern North 
America; its wood is now used in large quantities for the 
manufacture of furniture of various kinds, for gun-stocks, 
etc. The striped, or goose-foot, maple, sometimes known 
also as moosewood, of eastern North America, is a pretty, 
decorative species, especially attractive on account of 
the beautiful marking of its bark. The box-elder, or 
ash-leaved maple, native of eastern North America, repre- 
sents another type with compound leaves. Three Old 
World representatives are the common European maple, 
of Europe and western Asia; the sycamore maple, from 
Europe and the Caucasus; and the Norway maple, with a 
number of varieties, also from Europe and the Caucasus. 
