Genus Acer, L. (Maple)

Leaves - simple; opposite; edge lobed, with the lobes very sparingly and coarsely sharp-toothed or the lower pair entire. Outline - rounded, with three to five lobes, usually five, with the hollows between the lobes and between the coarse teeth rounded. Apex - of the lobes, pointed. Base - heart-shaped or nearly squared. Leaf - dark green above; slightly lighter beneath; smooth or somewhat downy on the ribs; when heart-shaped, sometimes with overlapping lobes. Seed-wings - set wide apart, but only slightly diverging. Bark - blackish. Flowers - yellow-green and very abundant. April, May. Fruit - greenish-yellow, smooth, drooping, on thread-like and hairy stems one to two inches long, with wings about one inch long, broad and slightly spreading. September. Found - chiefly along streams and in river bottoms, from Western Vermont to Missouri and Northern Alabama. General Information - A tree fifty to eight feet high or more; of very great value in many directions, - as a shade tree, for fuel, for interior finish and the making of furniture, for its ashes, which give large quantities of potash; especially for its sap, which yields the “maple sugar” of commerce. The yield of sugar by an average tree in one season from five to ten pounds.

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