Handbook of Teees of the Noetiieen States and Cana 



Tlio Moiiiit.iiii i\[apl(? is the most diminutivp 

 of our uastcni Maples, as it rarely if ever at- 

 tains a greater size than '25 or 30 ft. in height 

 with a trunk (i or S in. in diameter, and ia 

 commonly rallier a large shrnb than a tree. 

 It is rarely ever found isolated, as it seems to 

 require the moist rich loam and shade of the 

 forest, and does not grow naturally awav from 

 them. 



It is proliahly the most abundant of the 

 shrubs and small trees that clothe the banks 

 of uKinntain streams and overhang their spark- 

 ling waters throughout the northern states and 

 Canada. Their comely leaves and upright 

 stems of pale flowers are as intimately asso- 

 ciated with these retreats in early summer as 

 the songs of tlie Hermit-Thrush and Catbird 

 which live within their shade, and in autumn 

 it is an objeet of special lieauty, its orange 

 and red leaves being only snr[>assed hy the 

 brilliancy of its drooping clusters of scarlet 

 keys. 



The wood is little used save as an bumble 

 contribution to the wood pile for fuel. A 

 cubic foot when absolutely dry weighs 33.22 

 lbs. 



Leaves palmately :>-lobcd or sUshtly n-lohcd. 

 cordate or truncate at base the acute or acumi- 

 nate lobes coarsely crenate-serrate with pointefl 

 teeth, meml)ranous. conspicuously reticulated, 

 glabrous above, pubescent beneath: pelinirs 

 slender, reddish. Floirrrs (.Tune) about Yi in. iu 

 diameter in erect many-flowered lon^-stemnied 

 pubescent compound racemes ; cai.v.x jcreenisli yel- 

 low : petals linear-spatulate, yellow and lon-^er 

 than the calyx lobes : stamens 7-S. exserted in the 

 staminate flowers ; ovary hoary tomentose ; style 

 columnar. Fruit: samcras glabrous with broad 

 divergent red winss and fully grown by mid- 

 summer. 



