third year.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds sharp-pointed, reddish-brown, minutely
pubescent, terminal 1/4 inch long, lateral 1/8 inch, appressed, the
inner scales lengthening with the growth of the shoot. Leaves simple,
opposite, 3-5 inches long, with a somewhat greater breadth, purplish and
more or less pubescent when opening, at maturity dark green above,
paler, with or without pubescence beneath, changing to brilliant reds
and yellows in autumn; lobes sometimes 3, usually 5, acuminate,
sparingly sinuate-toothed, with shallow, rounded sinuses; base
subcordate, truncate, or wedge-shaped; veins and veinlets conspicuous
beneath; leafstalks long, slender.

=Inflorescence.=--April 1-15. Appearing with the leaves in nearly
sessile clusters, from terminal and lateral buds; flowers
greenish-yellow, pendent on long thread-like, hairy stems; sterile and
fertile on the same or on different trees, usually in separate, but not
infrequently in the same cluster; the 5-lobed calyx cylindrical or
bell-shaped, hairy; petals none; stamens 6-8, in sterile flowers much
longer than the calyx, in fertile scarcely exserted; ovary smooth,
abortive in sterile flowers, in fertile surmounted by a single style
with two divergent, thread-like, stigmatic lobes.

=Fruit.=--Keys usually an inch or more in length, glabrous, wings broad,
mostly divergent, falling late in autumn.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England. Its long life,
noble proportions, beautiful foliage, dense shade, moderately rapid
growth, usual freedom from disease or insect disfigurement, and
adaptability to almost any soil not saturated with water make it a
favorite in cultivation; readily obtainable in nurseries, transplants
easily, recovers its vigor quickly, and has a nearly uniform habit of
growth.

=Note.=--Not liable to be taken for any other native maple, but
sometimes confounded with the cultivated Norway maple, _Acer
platanoides_, from which it is easily distinguished by the milky juice
which exudes from the broken petiole of the latter.

The leaves of the Norway maple are thinner, bright green and glabrous
beneath, and its keys diverge in a straight line.

[Illustration: PLATE LXXIII.--Acer saccharum.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Sterile flower.
4. Fertile flower, part of perianth and stamens removed.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Acer saccharum, Marsh., var. nigrum, Britton.=

_Acer nigrum, Michx. Acer saccharinum,_ var. _