110 



Common Trees 



ASH-LEAVED MAPLE 



Acer Negundo, Linnaeus 



THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE, also called Box Elder and 

 Water Ash, is the only New York maple with compound 

 leaves. All other maples have simple leaves. 



The leaves are opposite, compound, with 3 to 5 leaflets. 

 Leaflets are 2 to 4 inches long, coarsely-toothed. The leaf- 

 scars completely 

 encircle the twigs. 



The flowers are 

 yellowish-g r e e n 

 suspended on slen- 

 der stalks in small 

 open clusters. The 

 pollen-bearing and 

 seed-producing oc- 

 c u r on different 

 trees. 



The fruit is a 

 typical two- 

 winged maple key, 

 which matures 

 about September, 

 occurs in drooping 

 clusters, often per- 

 sists far into win- 

 ter. The wings are 

 incurved. 



The bark on branches and young trunks is smooth and 

 grayish-brown; on older trunks becomes dark and breaks up 

 into shallow furrows. The twigs are stout, greenish to pur- 

 plish-green, smooth, often covered with a whitish crusty 

 coating. The buds are rather large, egg-shaped, short- 

 stalked, white-wooly, grouped at nodes in clusters of 2 to 3. 

 The outer pair of bud-scales completely covers the inner pair. 



The wood is light, soft, close-grained, creamy white, not 

 durable. It is used in the manufacture of pulp, wooden-ware, 

 barrels and cheap furniture. 



The natural range of Ash-leaved Maple is equalled by few 

 American trees. It covers almost three million square miles 

 from New England to Alberta, south to Florida, Texas and 

 Mexico. In New York it is common in the eastern, central, 

 western, and southern sections of the State, except at higher 

 elevations. Locally it has escaped cultivation. Wet to moist 

 sites along streams and borders of lakes and ponds are its 

 favorite home. 



ASH-LEAVED MAPLE 



Leaf, one-third natural size. Twig and fruit, 



two-thirds natural size. 



V/i to 2 inches long, and usually 



