MOUNTAIN MAPLE. 
117 
first, which is more generally in use, and which is likewise appropriate, as 
this Maple grows of preference on the declivities of mountains exposed to 
the north, and in cool, moist, and shady situations, on the abrupt and rocky 
banks of torrents and rivers. On the Mohawk, for instance, near the little 
falls, it abounds among the enormous rocks which lie scattered along its 
sides. 
The Mountain Maple is 6 or 8 feet in height, and it blooms even at a 
smaller elevation. It most frequently grows in the form of a shrub, with 
a single and straight stock. The leaves are large, opposite, and divided 
into 3 acute and indented lobes: they are slightly hairy at their unfolding, 
and when fully grown, they are uneven and of a dark green upon the up- 
per surface. The blossoms are small, of a greenish color, and produced 
in semi-erect spikes from 2 to 4 inches in length. The seeds, which are 
smaller than those of any other American Maple, are fixed upon slender, 
pendulous footstalks : they are reddish at maturity, and each of them 
is surmounted by a membranous wing, and has a small cavity upon one 
side. 
The Mountain Maple is too small to be profitably cultivated for its wood, 
and as its flowers, its roots, and its bark are destitute of any very sensible 
odor, it promises no resources to medicine. It is found in the gardens of 
the curious, rather to complete the series of species, than for any remark- 
able property of its foliage or of its flowers. 
This species is commonly grafted upon the Sycamore, and, like the 
Moose wood, it is thus augmented to twice its natural dimensions. This 
surprising development evinces how great are the advantages which may 
be derived from this process and from continued cultivation, in improving 
inferior vegetables. 
PLATE XLVII. 
J1 branch with the leaves and flowers of their natural size. Fig. 1, .d bunch 
of seeds of the natural size. 
[According to Emerson the Mountain Maple sometimes attains the height 
of twenty-four feet; the leaves assume, towards autumn, various rich 
shades of red, with the seeds yellowish, and in this state it has considerable 
beauty .3 
