THE MAPLE 143 



Though, in the words of Tennyson, our own 

 Maple in autumn will "burn itself away" till all 

 the woodside glows in the fitful sunshine like dead 

 gold, so as to commend itself to him who plants for 

 beauty, our native woodland trees can seldom show 

 any autumn colouring that can vie with the 

 surprising blaze of an American forest in the fall, 

 an effect mainly due to the -Scarlet Maple, 

 A. ruhrum, L. This, together with most of the 

 American and Japanese species, is now commonly 

 cultivated as an ornamental shrub in England, its 

 red flowers in spring being less conspicuous than its 

 autumn coloration. The Sycamore-like A. rufiner've' 

 Sieb. and Zucc, from Niphon, with red veins to the 

 leaves, and the many varieties of A. palmatum 

 Thunb., commonly known as polymor'phum, from 

 the same country, such as the cut-leaved dissect'um 

 and the copper-tinted atro-purpu'reuTn, are desirable 

 trees for park and shrubbery; whilst our suburban 

 gardens are now almost overstocked with the 

 allied variegated Box-Elder, Negun'do aceroi'dea 

 Moench. The bright green of this species, however, 

 with its milky whiteness delicately tinged when 

 young with pink, is well suited to contrast in such 

 situations with the regular and sombre WelHngtonias, 

 with "purple" Beeches, or with masses of green Lilac 

 bushes. 



Maples are chiefly propagated by seed, though the 

 varieties must, of course, be multiplied by layers,, 

 cuttings, or grafts. The seeds ripen in October, and 

 when the samaras, or " keys," as they are popularly 

 termed, begin to turn brown, they should be gathered 



