﻿tides (leaf-stalks), divided nearly half way down into 3 principal 

 lobes, with 2 smaller lateral ones ; lobes obtuse, notched, some- 

 times entire. Clusters (racemes) terminating the young shoots, 

 hairy, short, and somewhat corymbose. Flowers pale green. Anthers 

 hairy between the lobes. Capsules ( samara ) downy, horizontally 

 spreading nearly in a right line, with smooth, oblong, reddish wings. 

 Mr. Knapp observes, in the Journal of a Naturalist, that “ the 

 singular ruggedness of the branches and shoots, when they have 

 attained a year’s growth, and the depth of the furrows, give it a 

 strongly marked character among our shrubs. If one of these 

 rugged young shoots be cut through horizontally with a sharp knife, 

 its cork-like bark presents the figure of a star with five or more rays, 

 sometimes irregularly, but generally exactly defined. A thin slice 

 from this surface (see Journ. of a Nat. t. 3. f. 1.) is a beautiful and 

 curious object in the microscope, exhibiting the different channels, 

 and variously-formed tubes, through which the sap flows, and the 

 air circulates for the supply of all the diversified requirements of 

 the plantj.” 



Maple was formeily the principal wood for all kinds of cabinet work, and, 

 according to Evelyn, the knobs of anlient trees affording beautiful and richiy 

 variegated specimens were collected by the curious at high prices. — When beau- 

 tifully veined or spotted, it was much prized by the Romans, and of such were 

 composed the celebrated Tigrin and Pantherine tables; of which some particu- 

 lar specimens, as those of Cicero, Asinius Gali.us, King Juba, and the 

 Mamitanian Ptolomy, are said to have been worth nearly their weight in gold. 

 But in modern times it has been in a great degree superseded by mahogany. 

 When allowed to grow to timber, it makes excellent gun-stocks, and screws for 

 cyder-presses. The timber is far superior to that of the beech ( Fayus Sylva- 

 tica) lor all uses of the Turner, particularly for dishes, cups, trenchers, and 

 bowls ; vessels may be thus produced so thin as to transmit light. \\ hen it 

 abounds in knots, as it frequently does, it is highly esteemed by the Joiners for 

 inlaying, &c. and on account of the lightness of the wood, it is often used by 

 musical instrument makers. In the Vale of Gloucester, where oak timber is 

 scarce, it is used for gale-stuff and other purposes ; but the principal value of the 

 Maple is for underwood ; it is of quick growth, and affords good fuel. The 

 leaves often, in Summer, exhibit a white mouldy aspect, probably occasioned by 

 the interwoven filaments of Erysiphe bicornes, a minute parasitical fungus, the 

 receptacles of which I find very commonly interspersed amongst these filaments 

 on the leaves of the Maple in the neighbourhood of Oxford. Two other parasites, 

 Rhytisma acerinum, and Erineum purpurescens , are also not uncommon on 

 the leaves of this tree, the former on the upper, the latter on the under surface. 

 The leaves are also frequently beset with numerous red-coloured spiculie, oc- 

 casioned by the puncture of some insect, probably for the formation of a nidus 

 for its young. The caterpiller of the Feathered Prominent Moth ( Ptilophora 

 Plumigera, Curt. Brit. lint. t. 328.) feeds on the foliage of the Maple. 



The Natural Order Aceri'ne;e, of which Acer is the only British genus, is 

 composed of polypetalous, dicotyledonous trees, with simple, rarely pinnate, 

 opposite leaves, without slipnla;. Their .flowers are often polygamous, some- 

 times apetalous, and are disposed in axillary or terminal racemes or corymbs. 

 They are characterized as follows: — Calyx divided into 5, or occasionally from 

 4 to 9 parts, with an imbricated mslivation. Petals equal in number to the 

 lobes of the calyx, inserted round a hypogynous disk. Stamens inserted upon 

 a hypogynous disk, generally 8, not often any other number, always definite. 

 Ovarium (fig. 3.) 2-lobed ; style 1 ; stigmas 2; fruit (figs. 4 & 5.) formed of 

 2 parts, which are indehiscent and winged ; each 1-celled, with 1 or 2 seeds. 

 Seeds upright, with a thickened lining to the testa. Albumen none; embryo 

 curved, with foliaceous wrinkled cotyledons, and an inferior radicle. See 

 Lindl. Synop. p. 53. 



This species,” observes L)r. Lindlly, “ requires careful examination, 

 several curious varieties, some of which have been even considered species, aic 

 dcsciihed by the Botanists of Germany, and probably exist in this country.” 



