. r sixty feet, and a \diameter of twelve or eighteen inches. The \xtrunk is generally straight, though often stud- N^ded with projections and excrescences. In allhealthful and vigorous trees, the outward barkis light-coloured, by which they may readilybe distinguished. When growing in open sit-uations, with room to spread on every side,where all its branches are exposed to the freeaction of light, this tree is an object of greatbeauty. It somewhat resembles the Englishoak, in its outline, in the form of its trunk, anddisposition of
. r sixty feet, and a \diameter of twelve or eighteen inches. The \xtrunk is generally straight, though often stud- N^ded with projections and excrescences. In allhealthful and vigorous trees, the outward barkis light-coloured, by which they may readilybe distinguished. When growing in open sit-uations, with room to spread on every side,where all its branches are exposed to the freeaction of light, this tree is an object of greatbeauty. It somewhat resembles the Englishoak, in its outline, in the form of its trunk, anddisposition of its branches, and in the dense and massy character of its leaves are from three to five inches broad; but they vary in length, accord-ing to the age and vigour of the tree. They are opposite, attached by longpetioles, palmated or unequally divided into five lobes, entire at the edges, of abright-green above, whitish, and very pubescent at first, but later, minutely so,or nearly glabrous beneath; and except in the colour of the under surface, they. 84 ACER SACCHARINUM. SO garded greatly resemble the Norway maple. In autumn, after the appearance of thefirst frost, their colour changes from green to all shades of red, from the deepestcrimson to light orange. The flowers, which appear in April and May, aresmall, of a pale greenish-yellow, and are suspended by slender, drooping pedun-cles. The seed is contained in two capsules, united at the base, and terminatingin membraneous wings about an inch in length. It usually ripens in Pennsyl-vania and New York by the first of October, though the fruit attains its full sizea month or six weeks earlier. Externally, the keys appear equally perfect; butone of them, Michaux informs us, is always empty. The fruit matures onlyonce in two or three years. Variety. The Acer saccharinum has beenconfounded by some botanists with another tree nearly allied to it, that it can only be re-as a variety. From the dark hue ofits leaves, it was
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