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WHITE MAPLE. 
Acer eriocarpum. A. foliis opposîtîs, quinquelobis, prof unde sînuatîs^ inæ- 
qualîter dentatis, subtùs candidîssîmîs : floribus pentandris, apetalîs. 
Acer dasycarpum, Ehrenberg. 
In the Atlantic parts of the United States, this species is often confounded 
with the Red Maple which it nearly resembles ; west of the Mountains, 
they are constantly distinguished, and the Acer eriocarpum is known by 
no other name than White Maple. 
The banks of Sandy river in the District of Maine, and those of the 
Connecticut near Windsor, in Vermont, are the most northern points at 
which I have seen the White Maple. But, like many other vegetables, it 
is pinched by the rigorous winters of this latitude, and never reaches the 
size which it attains a few degrees further south. It is found on the banks 
of all the rivers which flow from the mountains to the ocean, though it is 
less common along the streams which water the southern parts of the 
Carolinas, and of Georgia. In no part of the United States is it more 
multiplied than in the Western Country, and nowhere is its vegetation 
more luxuriant than on the banks of the Ohio, and of the great rivers 
which empty into it. There, sometimes alone, and sometimes mingled 
■with the willow, which is found along all these waters, it contributes sin- 
gularly by its magnificent foliage to the embellishment of the scene. The 
brilliant white of the leaves beneath forms a striking contrast with the 
bright green above, and the alternate reflexion of the two surfaces in the 
water, heightens the beauty of this wonderful moving mirror, and aids in 
forming an enchanting picture, which during my long excursions in a canoe 
in these regions of solitude and silence, I contemplated with unwearied 
admiration. Beginning at Pittsburg, and even some miles above the 
junction of the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela, White Maples 12 or 15 
feet in circumference are continually met with at short distances. 
The trunk of this tree is low and divides into a great number of 
limbs so divergent, that they form a head more spacious than that of any 
other tree with which I am acquainted. It is worthy of remark, that the 
White Maple is found on the banks of such rivers only as have limpid 
■^vaters and a gravelly bed, and never in swamps and other wet grounds 
enclosed in forests, where the soil is black and miry. These situations, 
on the contrary, are so well adapted to the Red Maple, that they are fre- 
quently occupied by it exclusively. Hence the last mentioned species is 
