120 



THE MAPLE. 



autumn becomes yellow. The leaves are arranged along the shoot in 

 opposite, rectangular pairs, from three to five in number. Besides the 

 stipules already mentioned, others are sometmies found at the base of 

 the shoot which have leaf blades more or less perfectlv formed, but 

 are connected with the shoot by a soft fiat band, like a leaf in 

 texture, which takes the place of a leaf-stalk. These modified leaves 

 occasionally resemble a Laburnum leaf in form. 



THE BARK . 



The young shoots are tinted crimson or mealy grey ; those of 

 the preceding year take a yellowish-brown shade, which is the pre- 

 vailing colour of the branches. The bark on 

 the old boughs has occasionally the same cork- 

 like texture as the bark of the Elderberry. In 

 such cases it is deeplv marked with furrows 

 drawn lengthwise between the points from which 

 the branches spring, and at these points is en- 

 circled by an indented ring, such as might be 

 caused by a wire bound tiu;htlv round an 

 expanding stem. But as a general rule the bark 

 on the Maple trunk is distinguished by nothing 

 more than a moderate roughness of texture. 



THE FRUIT . 



The fruit of the Maple is constructed on the same plan as 

 that of the Sycamore. The wings of the Maple Samara, however, 

 spread more widely, so that they lie nearly in a line, while those 

 of the Sycamore form a A- The base of the Maple fruit is also much 

 flatter. The embryo plant in the seed is rolled as in the Sycamore, 



