at the lower margin. Seeds 1—2 , erect, with little or no albumen.
Embryo curved, or nearly straight, with wrinkled foliaceous cotyledons
variously folded upon each other.—Trees or shrubs, with opposite,
palmatelv lobed or pinnately 3-5-foliolate, exstipulate leaves.
Flowers lateral or terminal, often by abortion polygamous or dioecious.
1. ACER. Mcench; DC. prodr. 1. p. 593.
Flowers mostly polygamous. Petals Colored like the sepals, often wanting.
Stamens 7-10, rarely 5.—Leaves simple. The sap of many species contains
sugar.—Maple.
* Flowers in racemes terminating the leafy branches, appearing after the evolution
of the leaves.
1. A. Pennsylvanicum (Linn.): leaves subcordate, finely and acutely
doubly serrate, 3-lobed at the extremity ; lobes with a slender serrate acumi-
nation; racemes nodding; flowers large; petals obovate ; fruit glabrous, with
large diverging wings.—Linn. syst. 1. p. 675; Michx.! fl. 2. p. 252; Ell.
s L l . p. 451; Torr.! fl. 1. p. 397; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 111. A. striatum,
Lam. diet. 2. p. 381; Michx. f . sylv. 1. t. 45; DC. prodr. 1. p. 593 ;
Spach, in ann. sci. nat. (2. ser.) 2. p. 162. A. Canadense, Duham. arb.
1. 1. 12; Marsh, arbust. p. 4.
Canada! (lat. 51°) to the Alleghany Mountains in Georgia, and Kentucky !
abundant between lat. 43° and 45°. May.—A shrub or very small tree, with
a smooth green bark marked with stripes: the wood of no value. Flowers
yellowish-green. Leaves rarely .somewhat 5-lobed, at length glabrous.—
Striped Maple. Moose-wood. Dog-wood.
2. A. spicatum (Lam.): leaves pubescent beneath, subcordate, coarsely
serrate, 3- or somewhat 5-lobed; lobes with an entire acumination ; racemes
erect slightly compound ; petals linear-spatulate ; fruit nearly glabrous, with
slightly diverging wings.—Lam. diet. 2. p. 381 (1786); DC. prodr. 1. c.;
Spach, l. c. A. montanum, Ait. Kew. 3. p. 435 (1789); Michx.! 1. c.;
Michx. f . sylv. t. 47; Ell. sk. l.p . 452 ; Hook. 1. c. A. Pennsylvanicum,
DuRoi, harbk. t. 2; Wang. Amer. 1.12. ƒ. 30.
Cool rocky places ! with the same range as A. Pennsylvanicum: uncommon
south of lat. 41°.—May-June.—Shrub 6-10 feet high. Leaves slightly
lobed at length somewhat rugose. Flowers small, greenish. Raceme many-
flowered. Fruit often reddish.—Mountain Maple.
3. A. macrophyllum (Pursh): leaves large, very deeply 5-lobed; lobes
oblong or slightly cuneiform, entire or sinuately 3-lobed, the margins somewhat
repan d; racemes nodding; flowers rather large ; petals obovate ; fruit
hispid with elongated slightly diverging glabrous wings.—Pursh, fl. 1. p.
267; DC. prodr. 1. p. 594; Hook, ƒ fl. Bor.-Am,. 1. p. 112, t. 38.
Oregon! common between lat. 40° and 50°, along the alluvial banks of
rivers.” April-May.—Trunk 40-90 feet high, 6-16 feet in circumference,
with widely spreading branches. Leaves [at length nearly glabrous] sometimes
nearly a foot broad. Stamens 9—10: filaments hairy below. Carpels
sometimes 3. Racemes elongated, the pedicels often aggregated (compound
below, Pursh). Flowers yellow, fragrant. Sap as abundant as in any species
except A. saccharinum : the wood soft but beautifully veined. Douglas,
in Hook. “ The wood is whitish, and resembles our curled maple.” Nutt.
** Flowers in pedunculate umbel-like corymbs, terminating the leafy branches, appearing
with the leaves.
4. A. circinatum (Pursh): leaves cordate, 7-9-lobed, the nerves all radiating
directly from the apex of the petiole; lobes very acutely Serrate, with a
slender acumination; corymb few-flowered; petals ovate or linear, shorter
than the calyx; fruit glabrous, with oblong divaricate wings.—Pursh, fl.
1. p. 266; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 112, t. 39; Nutt, in jour. acad. Philad.
7. p. 16, excl. syn.
On the Great Rapids of the Oregon, Lewis ex Pursh, Nuttall! and N.
W. Coast between lat. 43° and 49°, Douglas, Scouler ! “ Confined, like
the preceding, to the woody mountainous country that skirts the shores, where
it forms almost impenetrable thickets; the pendulous and crooked branches
often takingroot.” Douglas,in Hook. April-May.—Trunk20-40 feet high;
bark smooth; wood fine, white, close-grained, susceptible of a good polish.
Douglas. [« like that of the Red Maple, and presents a beautiful curled texture.”
Nuttall.J Leaves as large as those of A. rubrum, with a woolly tuft
at the apex of the petiole; the veins hairy, but in old leaves nearly glabrous ;
lobes oblong or ovate-lanceolate, very acute. Sepals purple. Petals nearly
white. Fruit with thin straight wings, which are so divaricate as to form
right angles with the peduncle; the lower margin scarcely thickened.
5. A. glabrum (Torr.): leaves nearly orbicular, truncate or subcordate at
the base, 3-5-lobed; lobes short and broad, acutely incised and toothed; flowers
. . v j' fruit glabrous, the wings very short and broad (somewhat
obovate), rather diverging.— Torr.! in ann. lyc. New - York, 2. p. 172.
In the Rocky Mountains about lat. 40°, Dr. James!—A small shrub.
Leaves nearly similar to those of the common Currant in size and shape, glabrous,
commonly 3-lobed, with very acute and narrow sinuses which hardly
reach to the middle of the leaf; lobes broader than long, obtuse, often somewhat
2-3-lobed. Flowers not seen. Peduncles in fruit very short, 2-3-flow-
ered. Wings of the fruit about the size of those of A. campestre, or a little
shorter, but broader in proportion and more obtuse.
6. A. tripartitum (Nutt.! mss.) : “ leaves with a subreniform-orbicular
circumscription, 3-cleft or 3-parted; segments incisely toothed; the middle
one cuneiform, often slightly lobed, the lateral ones somewhat rhomboid; racemes
cprymbose; fruit glabrous, with very short and broad cuneate-oval diverging
wings.
“ On Bear-Ridge, Rocky Mountains, lat. 40°, near the line of Upper California.—
A shrub with whitish smooth branches. Leaves about the size of
those of the common Currant, usually 3-parted to the base, sometimes only
cleft half-way down ; the central segment broadly cuneiform, and, as well as
the lateral ones, slightly 3-lobed. Calyx about 8-parted; segments oblong.
Fruit small, very similar to that of A. glabrum, to which it is nearly allied.”
Nutt.—Notwithstanding the difference in the division of the leaves, we apprehend
that this and the preceding may prove to be forms of the same species.
*** Flowers in nearly sessile umbel-like corymbs, with very long filiform pedicels, appearing
with the leaves; the fertile corymbs terminating the branches ; the infertile
from lateral leafless buds.
7. A. grandidentatum (Nutt.! mss.): leaves slightly cordate or truncate
at the base, rather deeply 3-lobed, the sinuses broad and rounded ; lobes slightly
acute, with a few sinuous indentations ; corymb nearly sessile, few-flowered
; the pedicels long and nodding; fruit glabrous, with small diverging
wings.” Nutt.—A. barbatum, Dougl. in Hook. 1. c. 1