THE MAPLES
Family Aceraceæ
Maples have long been famous for beauty of blossom in the early spring,
and richness of foliage in the late summer and autumn; but a study of
the twigs and buds after the leaves have fallen, the varying colors
of buds and stems, the delicacy of twigs and branches, and grace of
outline as trees demonstrates effectively the unusual beauty of the
maples in winter.
The family name _Acer_ comes from the Latin word for sharp, which was
originally derived from _ac_, a Celtic word meaning a point. The name
was given to this genus because the wood was much sought after in
ancient times for the heads of pikes and lances.
Among some forty species of maple there are six native species, if the
ash-leaved maple is included in this genus. Two species from Europe,
the Norway and sycamore maples, are planted commonly throughout New
England.
All the maples have opposite leaf-scars.
[Sidenote: Sugar or Rock Maple
_Acer saccharum_]
_The general shape is erect, with smooth, clean branches. In old trees
the bark breaks away in long, shallow fissures with curling ridges,
giving the trunk a ploughed appearance. The buds are narrow, brown,
and sharp-pointed. Delicate pinkish leaves folded inside the bud.
Leaf-scars small and opposite; also the twigs branch opposite each
other._
Among the different characteristics of this tree in winter, two
stand out conspicuously as unfailing means of identification,—the
sharp-pointed brown buds and the rough furrowed trunk with smooth
places between the fissures. When young it can be distinguished at a
distance by its erect habit of growth and general shapeliness, the main
trunk often extending up into the tree unbroken by divisions.
[Illustration: SUGAR MAPLE
_Acer saccharum_
Page 22
]
[Illustration: TRUNK OF A YOUNG SUGAR MAPLE
Page 22
]
The sugar maple is typically American, and is especially associated in
our minds with the farming and country life of New England. It is found
in all the Northeastern States growing wild and extensively cultivated.
Maple sugar is made from the sap of this tree in the early spring. A
clear, bright day and a westerly wind succeeding a frosty night are
most favorable to the flow of sap, according to Emerson. A hole
is bored in the trunk of the tree, and the sap flows for about three
weeks. It is collected daily in buckets, and then boiled into syrup.
A sugar maple should not be tapped before it is twenty-five or thirty
years old, but after that age it may be tapped annually as long as it
lives. The wood of this tree is hard and smooth, and is much used for
furniture and the interior finishing of houses. Occasionally a tree is
found where the fibres of the wood are contorted irregularly into round
points called bird’s eyes. The cause of this peculiar bird’s-eye maple
is unknown, and the theory that the grain is diverted by the tapping
of woodpeckers for the sweet sap is an unsatisfactory explanation, for
some trees are thickly covered, while others do not have a single spot.
The Latin name, _Acer saccharum_—sugar maple—came from the Arabic,
_Soukar_.
[Sidenote: Red or Swamp Maple
_Acer rubrum_]
_A low tree, with a rounded head, smooth gray bark, reddish twigs
dotted with brown, and small, round red buds with smooth scales. When
old the bark cracks and peels off in long, slender flakes. Small
leaf-scars opposite each other on the stem. The flowers come before the
leaves, from the round flower buds clustered around the stem._
Even in the middle of winter the red maple is true to its distinctive
characteristic of color, and one marvels to find so much red in its
buds and twigs. The gray trunks are in fine contrast, and accentuate
the color, and the curving tips of the branches, with their delicate
twigs and graceful outlines, give the trees great beauty.
The red maple is one of the very first trees to bloom in the early
spring, and then its color is conspicuous, for, as Lowell says, it
“crimsons to a coral reef.” The flowers are sweet scented, and the
carrying of pollen is done on a wholesale plan over the tree by little,
inconspicuous insects, which carry the pollen dust from flower to
flower.
[Illustration: RED MAPLE
_Acer rubrum_
Page 24
]
[Illustration: TRUNK OF A YOUNG RED MAPLE
Page 25
]
In the autumn this tree is one of the first to turn, and its brilliant
red leaves in the low swamp lands, beginning often the last of August
or early September, invariably startle one with a swift premonition
of winter. “How early the fall has come this year!” some one usually
says, and no one realizes it is just the habit of early maturity
peculiar to that particular red maple. It is a tree closely associated
with Thoreau, for we read that he spent much time in extracting sugar
from its sap, against the wishes of his more practical-minded father,
who could not understand why his son should spend time and money
over such an experiment, when he could buy better and cheaper sugar at
the store.
The wood, although it is close-grained and firm, is not so much used as
that of the sugar maple, owing to the fact that it decays when exposed
to alternate moisture and dryness. There are several varieties of the
wood. The curled maple, one of the most attractive, has wavy fibres
which catch the light like watered silk, and it is much used in cabinet
work. The sap is only half as rich in sugar as that of the sugar maple.
The Latin name, _Acer rubrum_,—red maple,—came from the Celtic word
_rub_, signifying red.
[Sidenote: White or Silver Maple
_Acer saccharinum_]
_This tree is found growing wild in wet places throughout New England,
and it is also often cultivated. The trunk is low and divided into
spreading branches that form a spacious head. The branches sweep down
and turn up with curving tips. Smooth, red buds like those of the red
maple. It blossoms before the leaves are out, like the red maple._
It is always a delight to find this tree growing naturally where it
has not been planted, for, owing to its habit of growing near flowing
streams with clear, sandy bottoms, one rarely comes across it. It is a
tree to look for on a canoeing trip, and when one discovers its long,
drooping branches hanging over the stream, the feeling of isolation is
complete; a silver maple on a river bank accentuates the sense of being
in the country, just as the notes of the hermit thrush accentuate the
sense of remoteness in the woods.
In winter there are two distinct characteristics by which one
may distinguish the silver maple from the red which it closely
resembles,—the curving tips of the lower branches which sweep down and
curve up in a pronounced way unlike the red maple, and the manner in
which the bark peels off from the old trunks, in long pieces which are
free at either end and attached in the middle, while the bark of the
red maple splits up and down the trunk without shagging in strips.
The wood of the silver maple is soft and perishable and is seldom used.
The former name of this tree was _Acer dasycarpum_, but it has been
changed to _Acer saccharinum_, the old name for the sugar maple,—_Acer
saccharum_.
[Illustration: SILVER MAPLE
_Acer saccharinum_
Page 27
]
It is found growing wild along river banks from New Brunswick to
Florida, and it is frequently planted in cities and towns.
[Sidenote: Striped Maple; Moosewood
_Acer pennsylvanicum_]
_A small tree, with smooth green shoots and a light green bark striped
with white. The leaf-scars are opposite, and encircle the stem, and are
conspicuously ridged, with two raised lines above. Smooth bud-scales,
silver white leaves folded within the bud._
The moosewood is a beautiful little tree at all times, but in winter
when its large leaves have fallen and the wonderful coloring of its
trunk and stems is no longer concealed by foliage, one can fully
appreciate its color, delicate branches and smooth stems. The trunk is
an exquisite shade of green, smooth, with occasional stripes of white,
and the stems and buds are also smooth and a rich rose in color.
This tree is too small for practical use, but its æsthetic qualities
should cause it to be more generally planted in our parks and gardens
than it is.
The name moosewood was given to it by the country people in Maine, as
the moose in the woods invariably strip it for the sweet juice in the
tender young shoots in winter, when there is little for them to eat.
The Latin name _Acer pennsylvanicum_—Pennsylvanian maple—was given to
it by Linnæus.
The moosewood is found throughout the North Atlantic States growing in
rich woods under taller trees.
[Sidenote: Mountain Maple
_Acer spicatum_]
This is a shrub about eight feet high, found commonly in the mountains
and hills of New England, and like the moosewood seldom found growing
out of the forest. It is easily distinguished by its gray bark and pink
stems covered with a delicate gray bloom, and the clusters of dried
fruit left hanging on the stems.
_Acer spicatum_—spiked maple—refers to the spike-like clusters of
flowers.
[Sidenote: Ash-leaved Maple; Box Elder
_Acer negundo_]
_A small or medium-sized tree with yellowish green or reddish brown
smooth stems and opposite V-shaped, narrow leaf-scars. The buds are
gray and downy and covered with two pairs of scales._
This tree is found wild in Vermont and Pennsylvania, southward and
westward in lowland woods, and is more or less cultivated throughout
New England.
[Illustration: MOOSEWOOD MAPLE
_Acer pennsylvanicum_
Page 27
]
It is not long-lived and has small practical value, as the wood is
not strong, and the sap yields only a small quantity of sugar.
The Latin name, _negundo_, is meaningless and its origin is unknown.
[Sidenote: Norway Maple
_Acer platanoides_]
_A tall tree, with a round head and closely fissured bark. The buds are
large, round, and a dull reddish brown color. Coarse twigs and opposite
leaf-scars. Distinctive characteristic is the white juice which comes
after cutting off a bud._
It is particularly interesting to open the buds of this tree, and to
see how carefully the leaves are protected. After removing the outer
scales of the terminal bud with a knife, one discovers a pair of scales
covered with soft brown hair as thick as sealskin fur and the same
color. Within this warm covering there are still another pair of inner
scales with fur a little darker and thicker than that of the first
pair, and within these are the little leaves in embryo. In some buds
one finds a tiny flower cluster instead, so small it can scarcely be
seen, but perfect in every detail,—the most protected of flowers. A
discovery like this makes one wonder if the dispensation of coverings
is erratically bestowed, for why should we find a rugged, stalwart
tree like the Norway maple with its buds luxuriously protected from
the cold, while a slender, delicate tree like our moosewood has only
a pair of scales for a bud-covering? There must be hidden vitality in
the little moosewood, for in spring, when the leaves come out, they are
as vigorous and beautiful as those of the Norway maple; perhaps, after
all, it is just a matter of nationality; the Norway maple came from
Europe and has kept the traditional custom of wearing warm clothing in
winter, and the moosewood has lived without superfluous raiment, like
an Indian in the woods.
Sugar has been made from the sap of the Norway maple, but it is
produced in small quantity. The wood is easily worked, and is used in
Europe for various small purposes.
_Acer platanoides_ means platanus-like maple, and refers to an
imaginary resemblance to the plane tree.
[Sidenote: Sycamore Maple
_Acer pseudo-platanus_]
_A tall tree, with a spacious head. The bark breaks off in thin plates.
Coarser twigs than those of the other maples, leaf-scars opposite, and
large round buds. Distinctive characteristic is its green buds, which
are green all winter._
This is the “sycamore tree” of Europe, and it is found here commonly
planted in gardens and along roadsides.
[Illustration: NORWAY MAPLE
_Acer platanoides_
Page 29
]
It is distinguished from all other maples in winter by its unvarying
green buds, and the manner in which the bark of old trees breaks off in
thin, small, square pieces.
It is a favorite Scotch tree and was much planted about old estates
in Scotland. Over two hundred years ago, the powerful barons in the
West of Scotland used these sycamores for hanging their enemies and
refractory vassals on, and these trees were called dool, or grief
trees. Loudon tells the romantic histories of several dool trees which
were still standing in 1844.
The wood is used in Europe for toys and other small articles, and
experiments have been made with the sap, and sugar has been obtained in
small quantities.
The name _pseudo-platanus_—false plane—was given to it on account of a
fancied resemblance to the plane tree.
[Illustration: SYCAMORE MAPLE
_Acer pseudo-platanus_
Page 30
]