Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flowers . 
29 
Natural Order 
ACERINE^E. Tab. 24. 
Diagnosis.— Trees with opposite simple (rarely pinnate) leaves. Flowers 
regular. Stamens as many as or more than the petals, inserted in an annular 
hypogynous disk. Ovary free, usually 2-celled. 
Distribution. —A small Natural Order allied to the exotic Order Sapindacem ; nearly confined to 
the North Temperate zone, though common to both the Old and New World. Sycamore (Acer 
pseudo-platanus), everywhere planted, and often self-sown in Britain, is indigenous in Central Europe 
and Western Asia. 
One British Genus ; Species, 1 (and one introduced and naturalized). 
Flowers greenish, in simple or compound racemes, often unisexual from abortion. 
Stamens about 8, the calyx and corolla usually pentamerous. 
Fruit separating into two indehiscent winged nuts. 
SEED exalbuminous ; embryo with thin plaited cotyledons. 
USES, &c.—The wood of Sycamore (Acer joseuclo-platanus) is white, soft, easily worked, and adapted for 
bowls, platters, and other turnery. Bird’s-eye Maple and Curly or Mottled Maple afforded by old or gnarled trees 
of Acer saccharinum and A* rubrum are valuable and very ornamental cabinet woods. Other North American 
species afford useful timber. From the North American Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum) Maple-sugar is prepared 
by boiling down and clarifying the sap collected by tapping the trunk in spring. Besides Sycamore, several species 
of Maple, both Asiatic and North American, are frequently planted in parks. 
