NORWAY MAPLE. 25 



The foliage, though not so heavy and massive as that 

 of the sycamore, is umbrageous ; the leaves, which in shape 

 bear a striking resemblance to those of the Platanus occi- 

 dentalism are large, with long slender petioles, and when 

 fully expanded, of a fine shining lightish green ; in an early 

 or half-expanded state they are of a delicate yellowish 

 green, and in autumn, before they fall, become of a rich 

 warm yellow. 



The flowers, which are yellowish green, appear upon the 

 first bursting of the buds, and before the leaves are half ex- 

 panded they are SAveetly-scented, and eagerly sought after 

 by the bees, to which they afford an early, and, at that 

 season, a valuable pasture. The buds are full and large, 

 and during winter of a deep red colour, and the bark of 

 the young shoots, which at first is green, afterwards be- 

 comes of a brown tint, with numerous white specks ; that 

 of the trunk is greyish brown. It is propagated by seeds, 

 which are abundantly produced and found fertile upon trees 

 after they have reached the age of eighteen or twenty 

 years ; these are to be treated in the same manner as 

 those of the sycamore, and the management and nursing 

 of the young plants is similar. 



We may here mention another Maple highly spoken 

 of and likely to be a first-rate acquisition, both as an 

 ornamental and a timber tree ; this is the Acer macro- 

 phyllum of Pursh, seeds of which were first sent to this 

 country by Mr. Douglas in 1812. It is a native of the N. 

 W. coast of America, between lat. 40 and 50 N. Douglas 

 speaks of it in the following terms : " It is one of the 

 most graceful trees in the country it inhabits, varying from 

 forty feet to ninety feet in height, and from six feet to 

 sixteen feet in the circumference of its trunk ; the branches 

 are widely spreading, the bark rough and brown, the wood 



