32 
TREES AS GOOD CITIZENS 
four-petaled. The fruit of the Horse Chestnut is a glob¬ 
ular husk containing a single nut; that of the Buckeye 
usually contains two. The Horse Chestnut has the ad¬ 
vantage of the Buckeye in profusion and beauty of blooms. 
The buds of the former are sticky, shiny and resinous, 
which is not true of the Buckeye. 
The Maples have opposite leaves, with deeply recessed 
edges and always bear keys, or seeds with a long wing¬ 
like appendage, in pairs. These are as characteristic as 
acorns are of the Oaks. The leaves are borne in pairs, one 
opposite the other, along the stems. On the Norway 
Maple, the leaves are broader than long, five-lobed and 
easily identified for the reason that the leaf stalks and 
veins give forth a milky juice when cut or broken. Its 
bark is dark grey, fairly smooth and compact, with 
shallow, close and narrow furrows. Its twigs are compara¬ 
tively stout. The Sugar Maple has leaves very much 
like those of the Norway Maple, but are longer than 
broad and the exuded sap is clear. Its bark is a light 
brownish-grey, deeply furrowed perpendicularly into coarse 
flakes. Its twigs are about half as thick as in the Norway 
Maple. The bark of the Red Maple is smooth in youth, 
furrowed and shaggy and with long ridges on older trees, 
and changing in color from light to dark greyish-brown 
as the tree matures. The leaves are quite variable but are 
three-lobed, sharp pointed and, quite unlike the Norway 
and Sugar Maple, have definite saw-tooth edges. Leaf 
and flower buds as well as twigs and fruits are red, the 
summer foliage a light green on red stems and the autumn 
leaves a brilliant scarlet. There is a variety with yellow¬ 
ish instead of red twigs, flowers and fruits. 
The Box Elder, or Ash-leaved Maple, is to be distin¬ 
guished by its ash-like leaves of three to five leaflets on 
a single stalk, coarsely toothed and usually deep green. 
