ACERACEAE 
Striped Maple. Moosewood. Whistlewood 
Acer pennsylvanicum L, 
HABIT.—A small tree at best, more often a large shrub, 
seldom attaining a height of more than 30 feet, with a short trunk 
5-8 inches through. The striped, upright branches form a rather 
compact crown. 
LEA'VES.—Opposite, simple, 5-6 inches long and nearly as 
broad: 3-lobed above the middle with short, tapering lobes; 
palmately 3-nerved; sharply doubly serrate; rounded or heart- 
shaped at the base; glabrous, yellow-green above, paler beneath, 
turning pale yellow in autumn; petioles stout, grooved. 
‘FLOWERS.—May-June, when the leaves are nearly full 
grown; usually monoecious; large, bright yellow, bell-shaped, in 
slender, drooping racemes 4-6 inches long; calyx 5-parted; petals 
5; stamens 7-8; ovary downy. 
FRUIT.—Ripens in autumn; glabrous, paired samaras in 
long, drooping, racemose clusters, the wings 34 inch long, widely 
divergent, and marked on one side of each nutlet by a small 
cavity. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Bright red; terminal bud nearly % inch 
long, short-stalked, with bud-scales keeled; lateral buds smaller, 
appressed. 
BARK.—Twigs light green, mottled with black, smooth; 
trunk and branches red-brown, marked longitudinally by broad, 
pale stripes. 
WOOD.—Light, soft, close-grained, pinkish brown, with 
thick, lighter colored sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Abundant in the Upper Peninsula, ex- 
tending southward as far as Roscommon County in the Lower 
Peninsula. 
HABITAT.—Cool, rocky or sandy woods, usually in the 
shade of other trees. 
NOTES.—In the Northwoods the green shoots are browsed 
by deer and moose. Valued mostly for its aesthetic qualities. 
Of little or no economic value. 
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