CASSELL'S POI'ULAR GAKDENING. 



height of twenty or thirty feet, with a trunk six or 

 eight inches in diameter; it has finely serrated, 

 three-lohed, heart-shaped leaves, six or seven inches 

 long, hy five or six inches broad ; when young, hairy 

 on hoth surfaces — the under one especially clothed 

 with a dull yellowish tomentum — ^but glabrous when 

 mature. The flowers are greenish, in long, slender, 

 pendulous racemes. 



A. pictum — a native of Japan and other portions 

 of Eastern Asia — varies considerably in habit, size, 

 &c. The best known, and from a garden point of 

 view the most valuable, of the varieties ia J., p. 

 ruirum, familiar to many readers under its nursery 

 name of A. Colchicum rubrum. This form is a 

 strong grower, with brownish bark, and with leaves 

 which, throughout the season, retain a purplish-red 

 tint. The green-leaved state of the variety just 

 named only differs in the colour of the foliage. 



A. platanoides — ^the Norway Maple — is a noble 

 tree, with olive-brown shoots, dark glossy-green 

 Plane-Kke leaves, and yeEow flowers, followed by 

 fruits with spreading wings. The type is found 

 throughout Europe, and is one of the most orna- 

 mental of early-flowering trees ; it possesses an 

 additional advantage in its leaves being scarcely 

 ever damaged or disfigured by insects. A considerable 

 number of varieties of this fine tree are in cultiva- 

 tion. A. p. laeiniatwm is a somewhat slender, spar- 

 ingly branched, small tree, with deeply-cut leaves, 

 crowded at the ends of the shoots. A. p. cumUatum, 

 the Eagle's-claw Maple, has deeply-cut lobes with 

 the edges turned downwards so as to look like the 

 haU-olosed foot of a bird. A. p. ghboswn is a form 

 with a dense, round, compact head ; this keeps in 

 shape and requires no cutting ; it is thoroughly 

 suitable for a single specimen on a lawn, or for any 

 spot where a small-growing, formal, round-headed 

 tree is required. A. p. Schwedleri has large, hand- 

 some, deep bronzy-red leaves, and is one of the best 

 of ornamental foliage trees ; it is, moreover, a vigo- 

 rous grower. Similar in character to this last are 

 A. p. purpureum and A. p. Seitenbachii ; they only 

 differ somewhat in their shades of purple-red from 

 A. p. Schwedleri. 



A. Fseudo-platanus— the Great Maple, Sycamore, 

 or Plane of Scotland — is a native of Central Europe, 

 and Western Asia. As a forest tree of the first rank, 

 and producing valuable timber, it has been largely 

 planted, and is naturalised in many places. Many 

 varieties have originated either as seedlings or as 

 sports, and the more noteworthj' of these are men- 

 tioned here. A. p. Leopoldi has leaves prettily 

 marked with purplish and flesh-colour on a green 

 ground ; it is one of the best of the variegated 

 forms. A. p. flavo-marginahim, the Corstorphine 

 Plane, has distinctly yellow leaves during the early 



portion of the season ; it is only as the leaves mature 

 that the very conspicuous golden tint merges into a 

 pale green. A. p. pttrpureum has leaves of a fine 

 purple underneath. This tree, as Loudon says, has 

 a very singular effect when the leaves are slightly 

 ruflied with the wind, alternately appearing clothed 

 in purple and in pale green. The purple bloom' is 

 most obvious when the leaves are fully matured. 



A. ruirum — the Red or Swamp Maple of the 

 Eastern United States — is by no means, as the latter 

 of its English names seems to suggest, a tree which 

 will not thrive except in very, moist spots ; we have 

 seen it repeatedly in very poor sandy soil. In early 

 spring the leafless branches are clothed with clusters 

 of deep red flowers ; the young growing shoots are 

 reddish-brown in colour, and the leaves bright shin- 

 ing green above and glaucous beneath. As a rule, 

 the leaves turn a bright, clear, golden-yellow in 

 autumn — ^in the neighbourhood of London at any 

 rate, but now and then a tree will assume a fine, 

 glowing, red colour, similar to that put on by the 

 species in its native woods. The wood of this species 

 is valuable, and is largely used for cabinet-making ; 

 logs with undulating grain, "Bird's-eye Maple" 

 or " Curled Maple," being the most highly valued. 

 In the United States it forms a large tree, and gene- 

 rally grows in swamps. With us, it is not nearly 

 so fast a grower as the Silver Maple, A. dasycarpmn. 



A. saccharinum — the Sugar or Rock Maple — is one 

 of the noblest of North American trees by reason of 

 the beauty both of its form and foliage. This 

 species, too, furnishes by far the greater portion of 

 the Maple sugar consumed in North America. The 

 foliage is not unlike that of the Norway Maple. 

 According to Professor Sargent, the Sugar Maple 

 attains a height of sixtj' or eighty feet in the up- 

 lands of the Northern United States, with a trunk 

 two to four feet in diameter. The timber is valued 

 by the cabinet-maker, particularly the accidental 

 states known as " Bird's-eye" and " Curled Maple." 



A. spicattim — ^the Mountain Maple of the Northern 

 United States — is generally a shrub, but now and 

 then it may grow to a height of about twenty feet. 

 It has coarsely serrated three or slightly five-lobed 

 leaves, and upright inflorescences. The small red- 

 winged fruits add an element of beauty to the 

 bushes in autumn, and the decaying leaves turn a 

 fine reddish-yellow. In books it is frequently men- 

 tioned under the name of A. montanum. 



A. tataricam has rather a wide range ; it occurs 

 from Eastern Europe to Japan, and varies a good 

 deal in the size of its leaves. It is about the first 

 of the Maples to unfold its leaves in spring, and the 

 yellow and brown tints assumed by these in autumn 

 are pleasing. The flowers (pale greenish-yeUow in 

 colour) are borne in short erect racemes, and. are 



