74 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



account of this tree will be found under the 

 article Sugar, in the history of cultivated 

 vegetables. 



The scarlet flowering maple, acer rubrum, 

 is cultivated as an ornament for the shrub- 

 bery, where it flowers in April. It is a 

 native of North America, and is found 

 abundantly in the swamps of Pennsylvania, 

 where the bark is used to dye a dark blue 

 colour, and also for an ingredient in making 

 ink. 



The Canadians tap this tree, from the 

 juice of which they make both sugar and 

 treacle, as well as from the sugar maple. 

 Mr. John Tradescant cultivated the scarlet 

 flowering maple in this country as long back 

 as 1656. 



