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dd. Leaves finely and abundantly toothed; bark longitudinally white-striped; a bushy tree or shrub.
aa. Leaves compound; twigs usually with whitish bloom. _A.
negundo_, p. 193.
+WINTER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF ACER+
a. Terminal buds usually under 1/4 inch in length.
b. Buds white-woolly; twigs usually with a whitish bloom; opposite leaf-scars meeting; fruit often persistent on the tree until spring. _A. negundo_, p. 193.
bb. Buds not white-woolly; twigs without whitish bloom; opposite leaf-scars not meeting; fruit not persistent on the tree in winter.
c. Buds reddish or greenish; twigs bright red.
d. Twigs strictly glabrous; buds glabrous; spherical flower buds cl.u.s.tered on the sides of the shoot; pith pink; large trees.
e. Twigs rank-smelling when broken; tip of outer bud-scales often apiculate; tips of branches curving upwards; bark separating into long, thin flakes loose at the ends. _A.
saccharinum_, p. 185.
ee. Twigs not rank-smelling when broken; tip of outer bud-scales rounded; tips of branches not conspicuously curving upwards; bark rough-ridged, but seldom forming loose flakes.
_A. rubrum_, p. 187.
dd. Twigs appressed-hairy, at least near the tip; buds somewhat tomentose; spherical flower buds absent; pith brown; shrub or bushy tree. _A. spicatum_, p. 179.
cc. Buds brownish; twigs brownish or grayish.
d. Buds glabrous, or somewhat p.u.b.escent at the apex only; bark dark gray on the trunk. _A. saccharum_, p. 181.
dd. Buds h.o.a.ry-p.u.b.escent; bark sometimes almost black on the trunk. _A. saccharum nigrum_, p. 183.
aa. Terminal buds usually 1/4-1/2 inch in length.
b. Buds reddish; opposite leaf-scars meeting.
c. Buds conspicuously stalked; bud-scales visible, 1 pair; bark longitudinally white-striped; small tree or large shrub. _A.
pennsylvanic.u.m_, p. 177.
cc. Buds not conspicuously stalked; bud-scales visible, 2-3 pairs; bark not white-striped; large tree. _A. platanoides_, p.
189.
bb. Buds bright green; opposite leaf-scars not meeting. _A.
pseudo-plata.n.u.s_, p. 191.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Striped Maple. Moosewood. Whistlewood+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Portion of twig, enlarged.
3. Leaf, 1/2.
4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
5. Vertical section of staminate flower, enlarged.
6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
7. Vertical section of pistillate flower, enlarged.
8. Fruit, 3/4.]
+ACERACEAE+
+Striped Maple. Moosewood. Whistlewood+
_Acer pennsylvanic.u.m L._
HABIT.--A small tree at best, more often a large shrub, seldom attaining a height of more than 30 feet, with a short trunk 5-8 inches through.
The striped, upright branches form a rather compact crown.
LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 5-6 inches long and nearly as broad; 3-lobed above the middle with short, tapering lobes; palmately 3-nerved; sharply doubly serrate; rounded or heart-shaped at the base; glabrous, yellow-green above, paler beneath, turning pale yellow in autumn; petioles stout, grooved.
FLOWERS.--May-June, when the leaves are nearly full grown; usually monoecious; large, bright yellow, bell-shaped, in slender, drooping racemes 4-6 inches long; calyx 5-parted; petals 5; stamens 7-8; ovary downy.
FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn; glabrous, paired samaras in long, drooping, racemose cl.u.s.ters, the wings 3/4 inch long, widely divergent, and marked on one side of each nutlet by a small cavity.
WINTER-BUDS.--Bright red; terminal bud nearly 1/2 inch long, short-stalked, with bud-scales keeled; lateral buds smaller, appressed.
BARK.--Twigs light green, mottled with black, smooth; trunk and branches red-brown, marked longitudinally by broad, pale stripes.
WOOD.--Light, soft, close-grained, pinkish brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Abundant in the Upper Peninsula, extending southward as far as Roscommon County in the Lower Peninsula.
HABITAT.--Cool, rocky or sandy woods, usually in the shade of other trees.
NOTES.--In the Northwoods the green shoots are browsed by deer and moose.
Valued mostly for its aesthetic qualities. Of little or no economic value.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Mountain Maple+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Portion of twig, enlarged.
3. Leaf, 1/2.
4. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.
5. Staminate flower, enlarged.
6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
7. Fruit, 1.]
