Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

the Romans, in his time, and that the wood of some species was considered next in value to the citron-wood. He treated at length upon the brusca and molusca, or knobs and excrescences of the maple, of which, furniture and cabinet-work of the most costly kind were made.

General Remarks on Propagation, Culture, &c. The maple tribe, in general, prefer a free, deep, loamy soil, rich rather than sterile, and neither wet nor very dry. The situation that suits them best, is one that is sheltered and shady, rather than exposed. They are seldom found on the north sides of lofty mountains, or on mountains at all, except among other trees; but in the plains they are found by themselves. They are chiefly propagated by seeds; but some kinds are increased by layers, cuttings of the shoots, and roots, and by budding, or grafting. The seeds of most of the species ripen in September or October, and may be gathered by hand, or by shaking the tree, when the keys begin to turn brown. The maturity of the seeds may be proved by opening the keys, and observing whether the cotyledons are green, succulent, and fresh; if the green colour is wanting, they are good for nothing. The seeds of all the species may be sown in autumn, or in the spring; and the latter time is preferable where moles or other vermin abound, which are liable to devour them. If sown in spring, they come up in five or six weeks, with the exception of those of the Acer campestre, which are said never to vegetate till the second or third year. The seeds should not be covered with more than one-fourth or one-half of an inch of soil, and the ground where they are sown may be advantageously shaded with leaves, heath, or straw.

[blocks in formation]

Engravings. Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, i., figure 114, p. 434, et v. pl. 25; and the figures below. Specific Characters. Leaves cordate, undivided, serrated, with obsolete lobes. crowded, erect; wings of fruit parallel, young ones puberulous.-Don, Miller's Dict.

Description.

HE Tartarian Maple, in favourable situations, attains a height of forty or fifty feet; but near the river Wolga, and its tributaries, it forms a hemispherical tree, about twenty feet in height, with a summit as broad and as high as the tree itself. The branches are numerous, and disposed into a compact head, densely covered with leaves, which are distinguished by a peculiarly veiny appearance, and lively green. The flowers, which appear in May and June, are of a pale, greenish yellow, sometimes slightly tinged with red, as are the fruit or keys, before their maturity.

Geography and History. The Acer tataricum is found in Tartary, and is common throughout all the south of European Russia; but it does

Racemes compound,

[graphic]

not occur on the Ural Mountains, nor on the Caucasus. It was introduced into Britain in 1759, and is cultivated in the chief gardens in Europe solely as an ornamental tree.

The largest tree in Britain is at Endsleigh Cottage, in Devonshire, which, at eighteen years planted, was forty feet high.

Properties, Uses, &c. The wood of this species is hard; and being of a whitish colour, veined with brown, it may be used for cabinet-work. In ornamental plantations, the tree is valuable on account of the early expansion of its leaves, which appear before those of almost every other kind of maple; and it is said to thrive in a moister soil. When raised from seeds, the plant will come into flower in five or six years; and in good soil, it will attain the height of fifteen feet in ten years. Pallas informs us, that the Calmucks, after depriving the keys of their wings, boil them in water, and afterwards use them for food, mixed up with milk and butter.

10

[blocks in formation]

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 47; Audubon, Birds of America, pl. cxxxiv.; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, 1, figure 115, pl. 435, et v. p. 26; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Leaves cordate, 3- or slightly 5-lobed, acuminated, pubescent beneath, unequally and coarsely serrated. Racemes compound, erect. Petals linear. Fruit smooth, with the wings rather diverging.-Don, Miller's Dict.

T

Description.

HE Mountain Maple is a low, deciduous tree or shrub, seldom exceeding a height of ten or twelve feet in its native habitat, and it often flowers at an elevation of less than six feet. It most frequently grows in the form of a shrub, with a single stem, and a straight stock. The leaves are large, opposite, and divided into three acute and indented lobes. They are slightly hairy at their unfolding, and when fully grown, they

are uneven and of a dark green on the upper surface. The flowers, which appear in May and June, are small, of a greenish colour, and consist of semierect spikes from two to four inches in length. The seeds, which are smaller than any of the other American maples, are fixed upon slender, pendulous footstalks. They are reddish at maturity, have each a small cavity on one side, and are surmounted by a membraneous wing. They are usually ripe in the early part of October.

Geography and History. The Acer spicatum is most abundant in Canada, and along the range of the Alleghany Mountains, as far south as the forty-first degree of latitude. It was introduced into England in 1750, by Archibald Duke of Argyle, and has since been cultivated in many of the gardens on the continent. According to Loudon, the largest tree of this species in England, is at Croome, in Worcestershire, which, in 1835, had been planted thirty years, and was forty feet high, fifteen inches in diameter near the ground, with an ambitus, or extent of branches, of twenty feet. He mentions another at Edinburgh, in the Caledonian Horticultural Society's garden, which, nine years after planting, was thirty feet high. Also, another at Florence Court, the residence of the Earl of Enniskillen, in Ireland, which at thirty-eight years' growth was fifty feet high.

Soil, Situation, &c. This tree, in its natural habitat, prefers the declivities of mountains exposed to the north, and in cool, moist, and shady places; or on the abrupt and rocky banks of torrents and rivers. When cultivated, the soil should be free, deep, loamy, and rather rich than otherwise, and neither wet nor very dry. It may be propagated either by seeds or by the modes recommended in the general remarks at the commencement of this genus. Michaux states that this species, grafted upon the European sycamore, (Acer pseudo-platanus) is, like the Acer striatum, augmented to twice its natural dimensions.

The mountain maple is ordinarily too small to be profitably applied to any useful purpose in the arts, and consequently can be of but little value except for

ornament.

[blocks in formation]

Derivations. The specific name striatum, is derived from the Latin, strio, striped, in allusion to the colour of the bark. Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 45; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, i., figure 116; pp. 336, 337, et v. pl. 27; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Leaves cordate, 3-lobed, acuminated, finely and acutely serrated. Racemes pendulous, simple. Petals oval. Fruit smooth, with the wings rather diverging.-Don, Miller's Dict.

[graphic]

Description.

HE Acer striatum is
a beautiful, deciduous
tree, or shrub, grow-
ing, in its natural hab-

itat, to a height of ten or twenty feet, and
to nearly thirty feet in height, in a state of
cultivation. The trunk and branches are
covered with a smooth, green bark, longitudi-
nally marked with light and dark stripes, by
which the tree is readily distinguished at all
seasons of the year. In the regions where it
naturally grows, it is one of the first produc-
tions that announces the approach of spring.
Its buds and leaves, when beginning to un-
fold, are of a roseate hue, and soon change to
a yellowish-green. The leaves are of a thick
texture, four or five inches wide, rounded at
the base, and finely serrated. The flowers,
which appear in May or June, are of a yel-

lowish-green, and are grouped on long peduncles. The fruit, which, like that of all its congeners, consists of samaræ or keys, is remarkable for a cavity on one side of the capsules. It is produced in great abundance, and ripens in September or October.

Geography and History. The Acer striatum is a native of North America, and makes its first appearance in about fifty-one degrees of latitude. It is particularly abundant in Nova Scotia, Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In approaching the river Hudson, it becomes more rare; and beyond this boundary, it is confined to the mountainous tracts of the Alleghanies, in which it is

« AnteriorContinuar »