Michigan Trees - LightNovelsOnl.com
You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.
+ACERACEAE+
+Mountain Maple+
_Acer spicatum Lam._
HABIT.--A bushy tree sometimes 25-30 feet high, with a short trunk 6-8 inches in diameter; small, upright branches form a small, rounded crown.
More often a straggling shrub.
LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 4-5 inches long and two-thirds as broad; 3-lobed above the middle, the lobes coa.r.s.ely crenate-serrate with pointed teeth, the sinuses usually wide-angled and acute at the base; thin; glabrous, dark green above, covered with a whitish down beneath, turning scarlet and orange in autumn; veining prominent; petioles long, slender, with enlarged base.
FLOWERS.--June, after the leaves are full grown; polygamo-monoecious; small, yellow-green; in erect, slightly compound, many-flowered, long-stemmed, terminal racemes; calyx downy, 5-lobed; petals 5; stamens 7-8; ovary tomentose.
FRUIT.--July; bright red, turning brown in late autumn; small, glabrous, paired samaras, in pendulous, racemose cl.u.s.ters.
WINTER-BUDS.--Small, flattish, acute, bright red, more or less tomentose; the terminal 1/8 inch long, containing the flowers.
BARK.--Twigs reddish, slightly hairy; very thin, red-brown, smooth or slightly furrowed on the trunk.
WOOD.--Light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thick, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Common in the Upper Peninsula; extends as far south as Saginaw Bay.
HABITAT.--Damp forests; rocky woods; along streams; always in the shade of other trees.
NOTES.--Forms much of the undergrowth of our northern forests. Little used, except for fire-wood.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Sugar Maple. Hard Maple. Rock Maple+
1. Winter twig, 2.
2. Portion of twig, enlarged.
3. Leaf, 1/2.
4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
5. Staminate flower, enlarged.
6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
8. Fruit, 1.]
+ACERACEAE+
+Sugar Maple. Hard Maple. Rock Maple+
_Acer saccharum Marsh._ [_Acer saccharinum w.a.n.g._]
HABIT.--A stately tree 60-100 feet in height, with a trunk diameter of 3-4 feet; in the open forming stout, upright branches near the ground, in forests making remarkably clean trunks to a good height; the crown is a broad, round-topped dome.
LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, 3-5 inches long and broad; usually 5-lobed (sometimes 3-lobed), the lobes sparingly wavy-toothed, the sinuses broad and rounded at the base; thin and firm; opaque, dark green above, lighter and glabrous beneath, turning yellow and red in autumn; petioles long, slender.
FLOWERS.--May, with the leaves; polygamo-monoecious or dioecious; on thread-like, hairy pedicels in nearly sessile corymbs; greenish yellow; calyx campanulate, 5-lobed; corolla 0; stamens 7-8; ovary hairy.
FRUIT.--September-October, germinating the following spring; paired samaras, glabrous, with wings about 1 inch long, diverging slightly.
WINTER-BUDS.--Small, acute, red-brown, glabrous or somewhat p.u.b.escent toward the apex, the terminal 1/4 inch long, the lateral smaller, appressed.
BARK.--Twigs smooth, pale brown, becoming gray and smooth on the branches; old trunks dark gray, deeply furrowed, often cleaving up at one edge in long, thick plates.
WOOD.--Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, tough, durable, light brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Found throughout the entire state.
HABITAT.--Prefers moist, rich soil in valleys and uplands and moist, rocky slopes.
NOTES.--The most important hardwood in Michigan. The tree which produces the bulk of the maple sugar of the market.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Black Maple. Black Sugar Maple+
1. Winter twig, 2.
2. Leaf, 1/2.
3. Flowering branchlet, 1/2.
4. Staminate flower, enlarged.
5. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
6. Fruit, 1.]
+ACERACEAE+
+Black Maple. Black Sugar Maple+
_Acer saccharum nigrum (Michx. f.) Britt._ [_Acer nigrum Michx._]
HABIT.--A stately tree, sometimes reaching a height of 80 feet, with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet; branches stout, forming a broad, rounded, symmetrical crown.
LEAVES.--Opposite, simple, concave, 5-7 inches across, the breadth usually exceeding the length; usually 5-lobed at maturity, the two lower lobes being small, often reduced to a mere curve in the outline, the pointed lobes undulate or entire and narrowed from the broad, shallow sinuses; thick and firm; glabrous above, downy beneath; petioles stout, usually pendent, tomentose. The sides of the larger leaves often droop giving to the tree an air of depression.
FLOWERS.--May, with the leaves; monoecious; in nearly sessile, umbel-like corymbs; about 1/4 inch long, yellow, on slender, hairy pedicels 2-3 inches long; calyx campanulate, pilose, 5-lobed; corolla 0; stamens 7-8; ovary hairy.
FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn; glabrous, paired samaras, cl.u.s.tered on drooping pedicels; wings set wide apart, but only slightly diverging.
WINTER-BUDS.--Small, ovoid, acute, with dark red-brown, acute scales, h.o.a.ry-p.u.b.escent on the outer surface.
BARK.--Twigs smooth, pale gray; becoming thick, deeply furrowed and sometimes almost black on the trunk.
WOOD.--Hard, heavy, strong, close-grained, creamy white, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Lower Peninsula, south-eastern portion.
