738 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



drooping stamens or a pistil with long, double stigmas. The flowers are 

 greenish yellow, and those that bear pollen and those that bear the seeds 

 may be borne on separate trees or on the same tree, but they are always in 

 different clusters. If on the same tree, the seed-bearing tassels are at the 

 tips of the twigs, and those bearing pollen are along the sides. 



The ovary is two-celled, 

 but there is usually only 

 one seed developed in the 

 pair which forms a "key;" 

 to observe this, however, 

 we have to dissect the 

 seeds; they have the ap- 

 pearance of two seeds 

 joined together, each pro- 

 vided with a thin, closely 

 veined wing and the two 

 attached to the tree by a 

 single long, drooping stem. 

 This twin-winged form is 

 well fitted to be whirled 

 off by the autumn winds, 

 for the seeds ripen in Sep- 

 tember. I have seen seed- 

 lings growing thickly for 

 rods to the leeward of their 

 parent tree, which stood 

 in an open field. The 

 maples bear blossoms and 

 seeds every year. There 

 are six species of native 

 maples which are readily 

 distinguishable. The sil- 

 ver and the red maples and 

 the box elder are rather 

 large trees; the motmtain 

 and the striped (or goose- 

 foot) maples are scarcely 

 more than shrubs, and 

 mostly grow in woods 

 along streams. The Norway and the sycamore maples have been intro- 

 duced from Europe for ornamental planting. The cut-leaf silver maple 

 comes from Japan. 



The maple wood is hard, heavy, strong, tough and fine-grained; it is 

 cream-color, the heart- wood showing shades of brown; it takes a fine polish 

 and is used a: a finishing timber for houses and furniture. It is used in con- 

 struction of ships, cars, piano action and tool handles; its fine-grained 

 quality makes it good for wood-carving; it is an excellent fuel and has many 

 other uses. 



MAPLE-SUGAR MAKING 



Although we have tapped the trees in America for many hundred years, 

 we do not as yet understand perfectly the mysteries of the sap flow. In 

 1903, the scientists at the Vermont Experiment Station did some very 



The trunk of sugar maple in forest. 



