302 



Clj^ Jflom of Sliltrfjke : 



COMPBISING THE 



llalwnng flaitts an& imxs iitbtgenows to t\t (JLountg; 



By Thomas Beuges Flotvee/M.R.C.S., T.L.S., &c., &c. 

 No. VI. (continued). 



ORDER. ACERACEiE. (DE CAND.) 

 Acer, (Linn.) Maple. 

 Linn. CI. xxiii. Ord. i. 



Name. From acer, hard or sharp, derived from ac, (Celtic) a 

 point. The name is supposed to be applied to this genus because 

 the wood of some species is extremely hard, and was formerly much 

 sought after for making pikes and lances. 



1. A. campestre (Linn.) Field or Common Maple. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 304. Reich. Icones, v. 162. 



Locality. Woods and hedges, common. Tree. Fl. May, June. 

 Area, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Frequent in all the Districts. 



A small tree with deeply fissured cork-like bark and divaricated 

 opposite branches, common in our hedge rows and thickets, especially 

 in a chalky soil. The leaves are of an elegant palmate shape, and 

 give a peculiar crispness to the general aspect of the foliage, and 

 in autumn they take varied tints of yellow and orange, which have 

 a rich effect as forming part of the landscape. The flowers grow 

 in clusters and are of a yellowish green colour, expanding about the 

 6th of May, and are in full bloom by the beginning of June. The 

 wood is compact, of a fine grain, and often very beautifully veined, 

 hence frequently employed by turners and veneerers. All the 

 species abound in a saccharine juice, and from several of these 

 sugar has been extracted on a large scale, especially from the sugar 

 maples of America. The largest maple tree in England is in the 

 church-yard of Boldre in Hampshire, under whose canopy the 



