The _bark_ on young branches is smooth and green to purple in color; on
old trees it is thin, grayish to light brown and deeply divided.
The _leaves_ are compound, with usually 3 leaflets (rarely 5 or 7),
opposite, smooth and lustrous, green, and borne on a leaf stem or
petiole 2 to 3 inches long. The leaflets are 2 to 4 inches long by 1 to
2 inches wide, making the whole leaf 5 to 8 inches in length.
The _fruit_ is a samara, or key, winged similarly to that of a sugar
maple, but smaller. It ripens in late summer or early fall, and so is
like its close relative, the sugar maple, but unlike its close
relatives, the red maple and silver maple.
The _wood_ is soft, light, weak, close-grained and decays readily in
contact with heat and moisture. It is used occasionally for fuel.
The Norway maple, _Acer platanoides_ L., is a European species which
has been extensively planted. It forms a round, spreading crown of
stout branches with coarse twigs. The leaves resemble those of the
sugar maple but somewhat broader and the petioles exude a milky juice
when cut. The flowers are larger than those of our native maples and
fruit is large with diverging wings. It holds its leaves longer in the
fall and the autumn coloring is pale yellow. It succeeds well as a
city shade tree.
+OHIO BUCKEYE+ _Aesculus glabra_ Willd.
THE buckeye is rare in the northern fourth of Illinois, but is known in
the rest of the State, forming no considerable part of the forest stand.
It reaches a height of 60 to 70 feet and a diameter of 18 to 24 inches.
The trunk is usually short, limby, and knotty. The crown or head, is
generally open and made up of small spreading branches and twigs
orange-brown to reddish-brown in color. The _bark_ is light gray and, on
old trees, divided or broken into flat scales, which make the stem of
the tree rough; the bark is ill-smelling when bruised.
[Illustration: OHIO BUCKEYE
Twig, two-thirds natural size. Nut, one-third natural size.