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THE MAPLE. 



MAPLES. 



IVLinv varieties oi Maples are cultivated. The most important 

 are the Norway Maple (Acer Platanoides), the Sycamore (Acer Pseudo- 

 Plataniis), the Red Maple (Acer Rubriim), and the Silver Maple 

 (Acer Dasvcarpum). One Maple only besides the Sycamore grows 

 wild — it is the Acer Campestre — the common or Field Maple. The 

 Sycamore has already been treated separately. The Field Maple only 

 is described in detail, though some drawings ot the graceful flower 

 of a cultivated Maple are given. 



THE FIELD MAPLE. 



S an indigenous bush, the Field Maple is very frequently 

 to be found in our hedgerows : more rarely it attains 

 the growth of a bushy tree, from thirty to forty feet 

 in height. 



The central or terminal shoot of the branch usually dies back, 

 and growth is continued by the side-shoots, in the form of a Y, 

 which results in very elaborate ramification. The leaves are small 

 when compared with those of the Sycamore ("Larger Maple"), but 

 they lie sufficiently close along the numerous branchlets as to form 

 clusters of moderate density. The leaf buds of the Maple are also 

 smaller, and usually greener in colour ; they never approach the 

 beauty of colour reached by many Sycamore buds. The delicate 

 twigs and upright flower-heads of the Maple, instead oF the stout 

 shoots and heavy pendant flower racemes of the Sycamore, afford 

 further means of identification. 



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