Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 31

The New England specimens, with the exception of those from the Champlain valley, appear to be dubious intermediates between the type and the variety.

Maine,--the Rangeley lake region; New Hampshire,--occasional near the Connecticut river; Vermont,--frequent in the western part in the Champlain valley, occasional in all other sections, especially in the vicinity of the Connecticut; Ma.s.sachusetts,--occasional in the Connecticut river valley and westward, doubtfully reported from eastern sections; Rhode Island,--doubtful, resting on the authority of Colonel Olney's list; Connecticut,--doubtfully reported.

South along the Alleghanies to the Gulf states; west to the 95th meridian.

The extreme forms of _nigrum_ show well-marked varietal differences; but there are few, if any, constant characters. Further research in the field is necessary to determine the status of these interesting plants.

=Habit.=--The black maple is somewhat smaller than the sugar maple, the bark is darker and the foliage more sombre. It generally has a symmetrical outline, which it retains to old age.

=Leaves.=--The fully grown leaves are often larger than those of the type, darker green above, edges sometimes drooping, width equal to or exceeding the length, 5-lobed, margin blunt-toothed, wavy-toothed, or entire, the two lower lobes small, often reduced to a curve in the outline, broad at the base, which is usually heart-shaped; texture firm; the lengthening scales of the opening leaves, the young shoots, the petioles, and the leaves themselves are covered with a downy to a densely woolly p.u.b.escence. As the parts mature, the woolliness usually disappears, except along the midrib and princ.i.p.al veins, which become almost glabrous.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, preferring a moist, fertile, gravelly loam; young trees are rather more vigorous than those of the sugar maple, and easily transplanted. Difficult to secure, for it is seldom offered for sale or recognized by nurseries, although occasionally found mixed with the sugar maple in nursery rows.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXIV.--Acer Saccharum, var. nigrum.]

1. Fruiting branch.

=Acer spicatum, Lam.=

MOUNTAIN MAPLE.

=Habitat and Range.=--In damp forests, rocky highland woods, along the sides of mountain brooks at alt.i.tudes of 500-1000 feet.

From Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to Saskatchewan.

Maine,--common, especially northward in the forests; New Hampshire and Vermont,--common; Ma.s.sachusetts,--rather common in western and central sections, occasional eastward; Rhode Island,--occasional northward; Connecticut,--occasional in northern and central sections; reported as far south as North Branford (New Haven county).

Along mountain ranges to Georgia.

=Habit.=--Mostly a shrub, but occasionally attaining a height of 25 feet, with a diameter, near the ground, of 6-8 inches; characterized by a short, straight trunk and slender branches; bright green foliage turning a rich red in autumn, and long-stemmed, erect racemes of delicate flowers, drooping at length beneath the weight of the maturing keys.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk thin, smoothish, grayish-brown; primary branches gray; branchlets reddish-brown streaked with green, retaining in the second year traces of p.u.b.escence; season's shoots yellowish-green, reddish on the upper side when exposed to the sun, minutely p.u.b.escent.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, flattish, acute, slightly divergent from the stem. Leaves simple, opposite, 4-5 inches long, two-thirds as wide, p.u.b.escent on both sides when unfolding, at length glabrous on the upper surface, 3-lobed above the center, often with two small additional lobes at the base, coa.r.s.ely or finely serrate, lobes ac.u.minate; base more or less heart-shaped; veining 3-5-nerved, prominent, especially on the lower side, furrowed above; leafstalks long, enlarged at the base.

=Inflorescence.=--June. Appearing after the expansion of the leaves, in long-stemmed, terminal, more or less panicled, erect or slightly drooping racemes; flowers small and numerous, both kinds in the same raceme, the fertile near the base; all upon very slender pedicels; lobes of calyx 5, greenish, downy, about half as long as the alternating linear petals; stamens usually 8, in the sterile flower nearly as long as the petals, in the fertile much shorter; pistil rudimentary, hairy in the sterile flower; in the fertile the ovary is surmounted by an erect style with short-lobed stigma.

=Fruit.=--In long racemes, drooping or pendent; the keys, which are smaller than those of any other American maple, set on hair-like pedicels, and at a wide but not constant angle; at length reddish, with a small cavity upon one side.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in cultivation throughout New England; prefers moist, well-drained, gravelly loam in partial shade, but grows well in any good soil; easily transplanted, but recovers its vigor rather slowly; foliage free from disease.

Seldom grown in nurseries, but readily obtainable from northern collectors of native plants.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXV.--Acer spicatum.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower.

4. Abortive ovary in sterile flower.

5. Fertile flower with part of the perianth and stamens removed.

6. Fruiting branch.

=Acer Pennsylvanic.u.m, L.=

STRIPED MAPLE. MOOSEWOOD. WHISTLEWOOD.

=Habitat and Range.=--Cool, rocky or sandy woods.

Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.

Maine,--abundant, especially northward in the forests; New Hampshire and Vermont,--common in highland woods; Ma.s.sachusetts,--common in the western and central sections, rare towards the coast; Rhode Island,--frequent northward; Connecticut,--frequent, reported as far south as Cheshire (New Haven county).

South on shaded mountain slopes and in deep ravines to Georgia; west to Minnesota.

=Habit.=--Shrub or small tree, 15-25 feet high, with a diameter at the ground of 5-8 inches; characterized by a slender, beautifully striate trunk and straight branches; by the roseate flush of the opening foliage, deepening later to a yellowish-green; and by the long, graceful, pendent racemes of yellowish flowers, succeeded by the abundant, drooping fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk and branches deep reddish-brown or dark green, conspicuously striped longitudinally with pale and blackish bands; roughish with light buff, irregular dots; the younger branches marked with oval leaf-scars and the linear scars of the leaf-scales; the season's shoots smooth, light green, mottled with black.

In spring the bark of the small branches is easily separable, giving rise to the name "whistle wood."

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Terminal bud long, short-stalked, obscurely 4-sided, tapering to a blunt tip; lateral buds small and flat; opening foliage roseate. Leaves simple, opposite; 5-6 inches long and nearly as broad; the upper leaves much narrower; when fully grown light green above, paler beneath, finally nearly glabrous, yellow in autumn, divided above the center into three deep ac.u.minate lobes, finely, sharply, and usually doubly serrate; base heart-shaped, truncate, or rounded; leafstalks 1-3 inches long, grooved, the enlarged base including the leaf-buds of the next season.

=Inflorescence.=--In simple, drooping racemes, often 5-6 inches long, appearing after the leaves in late May or early June; the sterile and fertile flowers mostly in separate racemes on the same tree; the bell-shaped flowers on slender pedicels; petals and sepals greenish-yellow; sepals narrowly oblong, somewhat shorter than the obovate petals; stamens usually 8, shorter than the petals in the sterile flower, rudimentary in the fertile, the pistil abortive or none in the sterile flower, in the fertile terminating in a recurved stigma.

=Fruit.=--In long, drooping racemes of pale green keys, set at a wide but not uniform angle; distinguished from the other maples, except _A.

spicatum_, by a small cavity in the side of each key; abundant; ripening in August.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy, under favorable conditions, throughout New England. Prefers a rich, moist soil near water, in shade; but grows well in almost any soil when once established, many young plants failing to start into vigorous growth. Occasionally grown by nurserymen, but more readily obtainable from northern collectors of native plants.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXXVI.--Acer Pennsylvanic.u.m.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Sterile flower.

4. Fertile flower with part of the perianth removed.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Acer Negundo, L.=

_Negundo aceroides, Moench. Negundo Negundo, Karst._

BOX ELDER. ASH-LEAVED MAPLE.

=Habitat and Range.=--In deep, moist soil; river valleys and borders of swamps.

Infrequent from eastern Ontario to Lake of the Woods; abundant from Manitoba westward to the Rocky mountains south of 55 north lat.i.tude.