CHAP. XXI r. 



421 



Derivaticm. The specific appellation of O'palus has been given to this species, probably from tlie thick 



opal-)ike aspect of the leaves. 

 Engravings. Baudril. Traite, &c., vol. 5. p. 13. ; onrflg. 126. in p. 453. ; and tlie plate of this species 



in our Second Volume. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves more or less heart-shaped, roundish, 5-lobed, smooth 

 beneath ; the lobes generally obtuse, and coarsely serrated. Flowers 

 in drooping corymbs. Keys smooth. {Pen. Cyc.) A tree, a native of 

 Corsica ; from which country it was brought to Paris by M. Richard, and 

 thence to England, in 1752. It is described by Baudillart as a branchy 

 tufted tree, covered with smooth leaves, somewhat coriaceous, roundish, 

 indented, with five blunt lobes, deep green on the upper surface, and some- 

 what glaucous underneath, Vv'ith long red petioles. Its flowers are whitish, 

 in short racemes ; and the small frui-is, or keys, which succeed them, ai'e 

 almost round. It found in forests and on mountains in Corsica, and in 

 Italy,* where, from the denseness of its shade, it is sometimes planted by 

 road sides, and in gardens near houses. The red colour of the petioles, of 

 the leaves, of the Ti-uits, and even the red tinge of the leaves themselves, 

 more especially in autumn, give it rather a morbid appearance. It pushes 

 later in the spring than most of the other .species. The wood is veined, 

 and very close : in Italy, it is used for gun-stocks ; and the roots, especially 

 of those trees which have been often cut down, are very much sought after 

 on account of their hardness, and their curious knots and blotches, which 

 render them suitable for making snuff-boxes, and for inlaid work. 



Variety. K. coridceum, in the arboretum of the Messrs. Loddiges, seems to 

 be a variety of this species ; but A. opulifolium, No. 14, as described by 

 Baudril lart, seems quite distinct from it. 



statistics. There is a plant of this species in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, 

 which answers perfectly to M. Baudrillart's description. The largest tree in the neighbourhood of 

 London, bearing the name o( A O'palus, is at Fulham Palace ; where, in 9.5 years, it has attained the 

 height of 3i) ft. ; in Sussex, at Langham Park, 9 years planted, it is 20 ft. high ; in Staffordshire, at 

 Trentham, 12 years planted, it is 7 ft. high ; in Yorkshire, at Grimston, 12 years planted, 24 ft. high ; 

 in Scotland, in the garden of the CaledoniJfn Horticultural .Society, Edinburgh, 8 years planted, and 

 12 ft. high ; at Hopeton House, 18 j'ears planted, and 18 ft. high ; in Argyllshire, at Toward Castle, 

 there is a tree, wliich is said to be considered A^cet O'palus by Dr. Hooker, which is no less than 50 ft. 

 high, and girts 4ft. at 1ft. from . the ground. In Fi-ance, in the Jardin des Plantes, 30 years 

 planted, and Sift, high; in the Botanic (iarden at Toulon, 40 years planted, and'aO ft. high. In" Bel- 

 gium, in the Botanic Garden at Ghent, 13 ft. high. In Hanover, at Schwobber, 80 ft. high (most 



S-obably some other species, ? A. obtus^tum) ; in Saxony, at Worlitz, 23 ft. high. In Austria, in 

 osentlial's Nursery, at Vienna, Ifi years planted, and 12 ft. high. 



Commercial Statistics. Price, in London, from 1.?. to Is. 6d. a plant ; and at 

 BoUwyller, 1 franc. 



t 12. A. OPULiFO^LiuM Fill. The Guelder-Kose-leaved Maple. 



Itlentiflcation. Vill. Dauph., 4. p. 802. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 640. 



Synonymcs. A. h\s\mnimm Pour. Act. Tout. ,5. p. 305. ; A. vernum Rey7i. i ^. montanum C. Bau- 

 hin, Pin., 431.; E'rable duret, or E'rable a. Feuilles d'Obier, and Ayart in Dauphin^, Fr.; 

 Schneeboll-blattriger ,\horn, Ger. 



Engraving. Tratt. Arch., 1. No. 13. ; and the plate of this species, in our Second Volume. 



Spec. Char., Sj-c. Leaves cordate, roundish, 5-lobed. Lobes obtuse, bluntly 

 and coarsely toothed. Corymbs almost sessile. Ovaries and fruit smooth, 

 with wings rather diverging. {Boil's Mill., i. p. 649.) According to Dr. 

 Lindley, in the Peii. Cyc, this kind is the same as A. O'palus ; but, ac- 

 cording to Baudrillart, it is quite distinct. Its height, the latter says, is 

 from 20 ft. to 25 ft. or 30 ft. It grows naturally in the French Alps, and 

 on the Pyrenees. Its bark is grey; its leaves have 5 lobes, somewhat 

 rounded, a little toothed, and greener above than below. It flowers are 

 in drooping racemes; its fruits are swelled out, and their wings spreading; 

 so much so as to form almost a straight line, like those of A. j(;latanoides. 

 It is common on the rocks of Mount Jura; and is considered preferable to all 

 the other maples for its wood, which is hard and compact, w^ithout sap-wood, 

 not easily spUt, and so homogeneous in its texture, that it is almost impossible 

 to distinguish in it the annual layers. It takes the finest polish ; it is white, 

 lightly shaded with lemon-colour, sometimes exhibiting flashes or shades of 

 red, but not red veins. Completely dried, it weighs 32lb. lloz.thecubicfoot. 

 In Bugly it is used by wheelwrights, and makes excellent naves to wheels. 



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