538 XEW EXGLAXD TREES IN WINTEK. 



SILVER MAPLE 

 White, River, or Soft Maple. 



Acer saccharinum L. 

 A. dasi/carpv.m Elirh. 



HABIT — A g-ond sized tree 'O-nO ft. hig-h with trunk diameter of 

 2-5 f^.: dividing- near tlie grMiind into several slightly spreading limbs 

 whicli bran, h further up, turmiug a very wide, broad- topped head. 

 Lateral branch lets strongly tend to grow downward and then curve 

 sharply upward at their tips. 



BARK — Sni'MiUi, gray, with reddish tinge on young trunks and 

 branches; on iddt- r ^iruuks reddish -brown mure or less furrowed; the 

 surface separating into long thin flakes which become free at the ends 

 and flake off expusing the redder inner layers. 



TAVFOS — Pimilar to those of Red Maple but with a distinct rank odor 

 \\" lien f r e s h 1 >" c u t or b r o k e n. 



LEAF-SCARS — Similar to those of Ked Maple. 



BIDS — Similar to those of the Red Maple but generally somewhat 

 larger, the flower buds more densely clustered with a larger number of 

 buds in a cluster. 



FRIIT — Large, 4-7 cm. long, wings spreading, in lateral clusters, 

 ripening in earl\' si.iring and therefore difficult to flnd in winter. 



CO^IPARISOXS — The Silver Maple closely resembles the Red Maple in 

 twig characters but can be readily distinguished from the latter by 

 the rank odor of the fresh twigs when broken. The flakiness of the 

 bark of the Silver Maple is also distinctive. The bending down of the 

 branch lets T\'ith a sharp up"^'ard curve at their tips while much more 

 marked in the Silver Maple occurs to a certain extent in the Red and 

 t lie re fore cannot be depended upon alone as a distinctive character. If 

 the flower buds be dissected out and examined with a hand-lens the 

 immature flowers of the Silver Maple will be found to be surrounded by 

 a cup-like cal>'x ■u-hich in the Red Maple is made up of separate 

 divisions. See under Red Maple for Comparisons with other species. 



DISTRIBl'TIOX — Along river banks and in moist deep-soiled woods, 

 not typically in swamps; often planted for ornament under the name 

 of White Maple. Infrequent from New Brunswick to Ottawa, abundant 

 from Ottawa throughout Ontario: south to the Gulf states; west to 

 Dakota. Nebraska, Kansas, find Indian Territory; attaining its 

 maximum size in the basins of the Ohio and its tributaries; rare 

 towards the seacoast throughout the whole range. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Occasionnl throughout; most common and best 

 developed upon the banks of rivers and lakes at lo%v altitudes. 



IN CONNECTICUT — Frequent inland along the larger streams, rare 

 elsewhere. 



AVOOD — Hard, strong, close-grained, easily worked, rather brittle, pale 

 brnwn with thick sapwood of 40-r.O layers of annual growth: now some- 

 times used for flonring and in the manufacture nf furniture. Sugar la 

 occasionally made fi'um the sai:>. 



