THE MAPLE 141 



and the peduncles, and even the sepals, anthers and 

 ovaries, are downy, so as often to seem to be thickly 

 covered with dust. Inconspicuous as are both sepals 

 and petals among the young leaves in May and 

 June, they offer but little attraction to insects. The 

 flowers low down in the cluster are male or stamin- 

 ate, the terminal ones bi-sexual, and, sometimes at 

 least, " proterandrous " — i.e. the stamens first coming 

 to maturity, so that, though they may commonly 

 be fertilised by the wind, or even be fertile with their 

 own pollen, the flies that do visit them undoubtedly 

 effect an occasional cross. 



The fruit is a characteristic of the genus, the hairy 

 ovary at an early stage in its development showing 

 signs of the wings that are to grow from the side 

 of either carpel ; so that it forms a two- winged 

 " samara," like two blades of a screw paddle, with a 

 chamber at the base of each containing one seed, 

 though there were at first two ovules. Continental 

 botanists have subdivided the species Acer campestre 

 of Linnaeus mainly according to the presence or 

 absence of down on ripe fruit, our British variety, 

 in which this is present, being termed A. raol'le, or 

 A. campestre hebecarp'um. The varieties, however, 

 agree in having the wings of the samara smooth, and 

 spreading almost horizontally — in which they differ 

 from those of the Sycamore, which are " ascending," 

 as they do also in size — each wing being only about 

 half an inch in length and of a somewhat oblong 

 outline, and tinged with red. The function of this 

 double-winged fruit is clearly seen when it falls 

 whirling in the autumn breeze, wafting the seed to 



