110 
NORWAY MAPLE. 
feet, and ranks among the largest trees of the north of Europe. Its leaves 
are broad, of a fine texture, and of a light green color ; in shape, they re- 
semble those of the Black Sugar tree and the sugar Maple. They are not 
whitish underneath like those of the Sugar Maple, and when the petiole is 
broken a milky fluid distils from it, which does not take place in the Ame- 
rican species. 
The flowers of the Norway Maple are small, yellowish, and suspended 
by pretty long peduncles. The seeds grow in two capsules, which are uni- 
ted at the base, compressed, and garnished with large divergent, membra- 
nous wings. They are ripe in the month of September. 
In the winter, when the Norway Maple and the Sycamore are stripped of 
their leaves, they may still be distinguished by their buds. On the Syca- 
more, the last year’s shoots are larger than on the Norway Maple, and the 
buds are of a yellowish color, while those of the other species are of a red- 
dish complexion, and are united in groups of three. On the two species 
of American Sugar Maple, the shoots are still more tapering and slender, 
and the buds are nearly black. 
The wood of the Norway Maple is very white and very fine grained: 
it is easily wrought, and is employed for nearly the same purposes with 
that of the Sycamore. Among cabinet-makers in Germany, such trees are 
in request as present agreeable accidental variations in the direction of the 
fibre, similar to the Curled Maple and the Bird’s-eye Maple. 
The rapid and beautiful vegetation of the Norway Maple in soils inferior 
to such as are required by the Sycamore, causes it to be extensively planted 
in Europe for the embellishment of gardens ; for which purpose trees are 
preferred that develope their foliage early, and shed it late, and that afford 
through the intemperate season a refreshing shade ; all which advantages 
are united in the Norway Maple. 
PLATE XLIV. 
Fig. 1, Ji leaf of half the natural size. A seed of the natural size. 
[ This is unquestionably one of the best ornamental trees ; its beautifully 
formed head, and the density of its shade, should give it a preference over 
most of the Maples for the landscape gardener. Scarcely too much can be 
said in its praise.] 
