18 SHADE-TREES IN TOWNS AND CITIES 



While naturally the sugar maple is very beautiful, it un- 

 fortunately does not thrive in cities. Its requirements as to 

 soil and water are extremely exacting, and its foliage is very 

 sensitive to dust and smoke, especially during periods of 

 drought. The sugar maple borer and the leopard moth are 

 the chief enemies of the sugar maple, and the death of limbs 

 and of entire trees is frequently due to the work of these 

 pests. Another pest that does considerable injury to this 

 tree is the woolly maple scale. The natural range of the 

 sugar maple is from Newfoundland to Georgia, and west- 

 ward to Manitoba and Texas. 



Red Maple {Acer rubrum Linn.). — Although it is some- 

 times called a soft maple, the red maple makes a very good 

 street-tree. Its wood is softer than that of the sugar or the 

 Norway maple, and the tree grows a little faster than either 

 of these, but its frame is admirably adapted to resist heavy 

 winds. Its branches are short, numerous, and erect, but not 

 heavy or spreading enough to be torn loose from the trunk 

 like those of the silver maple. It naturally grows a low, 

 compact, rounded head, and, as it seldom attains its full 

 size when planted in cities, it is well adapted to narrow 

 streets. 



The red maple was appropriately named. Its tiny red 

 blossoms are among the earliest to appear in the latter part 

 of March and early April. Especially bright in color are 

 the trees bearing the pistillate, or female flowers; the stam- 

 inate, or male flowers, are of a lighter hue. The pistillate 

 flowers ripen into scarlet keys or samaras in early May. 

 All summer long the light green leaves swing on red stems, 

 and in the early autumn the tree stands preeminent in the 

 beauty of its scarlet foliage. The red maple looks well at 

 all ages and at all seasons. While young, its smooth, gray 



