428 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUJVI. 



T'ART III. 



Bescriptmi, ^-c. In its natiA'^e countries, (the south of France and Italy,) this 

 tree attains the height of 30 ft, or 40 ft.; though, in rocky exposed situations, 

 it often forms only a large bush. The trunk is covered with a reddish brown 

 bark. The leaves are chiefly 3-lobed, with an entire margin : they are dark 

 green, and bear a general resemblance to those of A. campestre, which are about 

 the same size, but of a paler green, and 5-lobed. The leaves, in mild seasons, 

 I'emain on during great part of the winter, more especially in France. The 

 flowers are produced just before the leaves : they are pendulous, on peduncles 

 1 in. or more long, disposed in dichotomous panicles, or corymbs, one from al- 

 most every bud, and consist of from 6 to 10 flowers. The flowers are of a pale 

 yellow colour, and form a great source of attraction to bees. The tree of this 

 species in the London Horticultural Society's Garden has the branches rather 

 ascending, so as to form somewhat a fasciculate head ; but in old trees, the 

 head is roundish and spreading. 



Geography^ History, <$-c. The tree abounds, in a wild state, in the south of 

 France, and also in Spain and Italy, chiefly on rocky exposed situations. It 

 is also much planted in the south of France as hedges, on account of the per- 

 sistency of the leaves, which remain on during a great part of winter. The tree 

 was introduced into England in 1739, and is to be met with in most botanic 

 gardens. The wood, which is hard and heavy, is used in France by turners 

 and cabinet-makers ; but, in England, the tree may be considered as purely one 

 of ornament ; and, as such, it well deserves a place in every collection. It is 

 easily propagated by seeds or by la3'ers. 



statistics. The largest tree in the neighbourhood of London is at Kenwood, where, in 35 years, it 

 has attained the height of 47 ft. ; there are two very handsome trees at Ham House, each nearly 30 ft. 

 high : at Kew, 30 years planted, it is 29 ft. high ; in the Oxford Botanic Garden, 40 years planted, it 

 is '25 ft. high ; in Worcestershire, at Croome, 30 years planted, 25 ft. high ; in Staffordshire, at IVent- 

 ham, 26 ^years planted, 27 ft. high. In Scotland, in the Perth Nursery, 14 years jilanted, and 

 14 ft. high. In France, in ;the Jardin des Plantes, 130 years planted, and 55 ft. high. In Saxony, at 

 Worlitz, 45 years planted, 30 ft. high ; in Austria, at Vienna, in the garden of the University, 40 years 

 planted, and 36 ft. high ; and at Laxenburg, 35 years planted, and 30 ft. high. In Prussia, in the 

 Berlin Botanic Garden, 18 ft. high. In Bavaria, in the Botanic Garden at Munich, 24 years planted, 

 and 20 ft. high. 



Commei'c'ial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 1^. Qd. each ; at 

 Bollvvyller, 1 franc 50 cents ; at New York, ?. 



lis. A. campe'stre L. The common, or Field, Maple. 



Identification. Lin. Spec, 1497. ; Hayne, Dend., p. 211. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 595. ; Don's Mill.,1. p. 

 Synonymes. E'rable champfitre, Fr. ; kleiner Ahorn, Feld Ahorn, Ger. 



Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 304. ; Fel. Dan., t. 1288. ; Reitter and Abel, Abbild., t. 25. ; Willd. 

 Abbild. , t. 213. ; our fig. 132. in p. 458.; and the plate of A. campestre _var. austriacum in our 

 Second Volume. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Leaves cordate, with 5-tootlied lobes. Racemes erect. 



Wings of fruit much divaricated. {^Boil's Mill., i. p. 649.) 

 Varieties. There are four forms of this species. 



¥ A. c. 1 hebechjmm Dec. Prod., i. p. 594. The doiuny-fndted Field 

 Maple. — Fruit clothed with velvety pubescence. A. campestre Wallr. 

 in LitL Tratt. Arch., i. No. 7 ; A. moUe Opiz. {Don's Mill., i. p. 649.) 



3^ A. c.2 foliis variegafis. The variegated-leaved Field Maple. — Next to 

 the variegated-leaved variety of A. Psetido-Platanus, this seems the 

 handsomest of all the variegated-leaved maples ; the leaves preserving, 

 with their variegation, the appearance of health, and the blotches, and 

 ■ stripes of white, or whitish yellow, being distinctly marked. 



^ A. c. 3 collinum Wallr. in Litt. Dec. Prod., i. p. 594. The hill-ixiha- 

 biting Field Maple. — Fruit smooth. Lobes of leaves obtuse. Flower 

 smaller. A. affine and A. macrocarpum Opiz. Native of France. 

 {Don's Mill., i. p. 649.) 



1^ A. c. 4 austriacum Tratt. Arch., i. No. 6. The Austrian Field Mapyle. — 

 Fruit smooth. Lobes of leaves somewhat acuminated. Flowers 

 larger than those of the species. Native of Austria, Podolia, and 

 Tauria. {Don's Mill., i. p. 649.) This variety is larger in all its parts 

 than the original species, and is of much freer growth ; the main 

 stem rises erect and straight, and sends out its branches regularly on 



