i
9 4 AKBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
The wood
the young shoots ; as well as in the racemes of flowers being erect. The i
weighs 61 lb. 9oz. a cubic foot in a green state, and 51 lb. 15oz. when
perl
fectly dry. I t makes excellent fuel, and the very best charcoal,
t is
compact, of a fine grain, sometimes beautifully veined, and takes a
hi«h polish. I t was celebrated among the ancient Romans for tables. The
wood o f the roots is frequently knotted ; and, when that is the case, it is
used for the manufacture of snufl’boxes, pipes, and other fanciful productions.
A drv soil suits this species best, and an open situation. Seeds ; which often
remain eighteen months in the ground before they vegetate, though a few
come up the first spring. The varieties are propagated by layers.
Î 17. A. c r e 'tic um L. The Cretan Maple.
Identification. Uin. Spec., 1497. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p.,594. ; Don’s M l - , 1- P -6 « - .
Synonymes. A . heterophÿllum WUld. E n . ; A. sempervìrens L . Mant. ; A . obtusifôlium Stbthorp ,
E'ra b le de Crète, Fr. ; Cretischer Ahorn, Ger. • • • u o-;*
E n s ra v irg s . F lo r. Græc., t. 361. ; Schmidt Arb., t.l5 . ; the plate of this species in Arb. B n t.,
1st editf, vol. V. ; our Jig. 142., from th e F lo ra Græca ; and Jig. 163. of the leaves, of th e natura l
size, in the p late forming p. 121.
Spec. Char., 4c. Leaves permanent, cuneated at the base, acutely 3-lobed at
the top. Lobes entire, or toothleted ; lateral ones shortest. Corymbs few-
flowered, erect. F ru it smooth, with the wings hardly diverging. (Boris
Mill.) A diminutive, slow-growing, sub-evergreen tree. Candia, and other
islands in the Grecian Archipelago. Height 10 ft. to .30 ft. Introd. 1752.
Flowers greenish yellow ; May and June. Keys brown ; ripe in September.
There is a general resemblance between
A. créticum, A. monspessulânum,
and A. campèstre ; hut the first is
readily known from both, by its being
evergreen, or sub-evergreen, and by its
leaves having shorter footstalks, and
being less deeply lobed. In a young
state, the leaves are often entire or
nearly so. I t is oftener seen as a shrub
than as a tree ; and it seems to thrive
better in the shade than any other
Acer. Seeds, layers, or grafting on A.
campèstre.
Other Species o f A'cer.—ri. barbàtum
Michx., given in our first edition, has
been omitted, because the plant in the
Hort. Soc. Garden has always appeared
to us nothing more than ri. jplata-
142. r i'c e r c ré ticum .
noides, and because Torrey and Gray
consider it a doubtful species, and probably described by Michaux from “ specimens
of ri. sacchárinum ; the only species, so far as we know, which has the
sepals bearded inside.” (Tor. and Gray, i. p. 249.) ri. opulifòlium given in our
first edition as a species, we have now satisfied ourselves, from having been able
to examine larger plants, is nothing more than a variety o f ri. Pseùdo-Platanus
diminished in all its parts. There are several names of species qf ri'c e r in the
works of European botanists, the plants of which would require to be procured
and studied in a living state ; such as A. granatense Bois., a native of
Spain ; A. parvifblium Tausch ; also some natives o f th e Himalayas ; and the
following in North America as given by Torrey and Gray ; A. glàbrum Torr.,
a shrub of the Rocky Mountains ; A. tripartUum Nutt. MSS., a shrub q f the
Rocky Mountains allied to ri. glàbrum; A. grandidentàtum N utt. MSS., a
shrub or low tree from the Rocky Mountains, supposed to be the same as A.
barbàtum Douglas, mentioned in Hooker’s Flor. Bor. Amer., i. p. 112. The
names o f several other species, not yet introduced, will be found in the first
edition o f this work.
XI I I . riCERA'CEÆ : r i 'cER.
A'cer óblónymn. T h e oh\ong-leaved M a p le .
Leaves of the natural size.
9 5