Acer

Read about Acer in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Acer (classical Latin name). Aceraceae. Maple. Native and foreign trees cultivated chiefly for shade and for the ornamental foliage. Trees, rarely shrubs: lvs. opposite, petioled, simple and mostly palmately lobed, or 3-5 foliolate, deciduous, rarely evergreen: fls. small, polygamous or dioecious, in racemes, panicles or corymbs; petals and sepals 5, rarely 4, rarely sepals connate and petals wanting; disk usually annular, conspicuous, rarely lobed or wanting; stamens 4-10, mostly 8; styles 2, usually more or less connate: fr. consisting of 2 long-winged, compressed nutlets (samaras), each containing 1 seed.—About 110 species in N. Amer., Asia, especially Cent, and E. Asia, Europe and N. Afr. Monogr. by Pax in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, fam. 163 (1903), quoted below as Pax; see, also, Rehder, The Maples of E. Continental Asia, in Sargent, Trees and Shrubs, 1:175 (1905), and Koidzumi, Revisio Aceracearum Japonicarum in Jour. College of Science, Tokyo, 32, Art. 1 (1911), both with many plates. Monogr. of the garden forms by Graf Schwerin in Gt. 1893; see also G.C. II. 16:75. The maples are hardy ornamental trees or shrubs, with handsome large foliage which, in some species, shows a remarkable tendency to vary in shape and coloring. Numerous garden forms are in cultivation. Though the flowers are small, they are quite attractive in the early-flowering species as in A. rubrum and A. saccharum, since they appear in great profusion; in some species the young fruits assume a bright red color, particularly in A. tataricum, A. ginnala, A. pseudoplatanus var. erythrocarpum, and A. rubrum. The maples are among our most ornamental and valuable trees for park and street planting. Nearly all assume a splendid color in autumn, especially the species of North America and Eastern Asia, which surpass by far the European maples. Many species are valuable timber trees, and some American species, especially A. saccharum, produce sugar. For purposes of shade, the common sugar maple is best and most popular. The Norway maple makes a very dense and round head, and is excellent for lawns, put it is too low-headed for the streets. A. pictum is similar, but smaller in every part. The silver maple, A. saccharinum and its vars., is also popular where quick-growing trees are desired. The Japanese maples of the Palmata section are among the most striking and showy exotic small trees, and are adapted for fine grounds and for growing in pots. The maples are not particular as to soil; some species, as A. monspessulanum and A. campestre, prefer drier situations, while A. saccharinum and A. rubrum prefer moist situations, the latter growing well even in swampy soil. Most of the species are hardy in the northern and middle states; among the hardiest are A. Negundo, A. saccharum (Figs. 89, 90), A. saccharinum, A. rubrum, A. nigrum, A. pennsylvanicum, A. spicatum, A. platanoides, A. tataricum. Propagation is by seeds, which soon lose their germinating power and must be sown soon after maturity or stratified and sown in spring; A. saccharum and A. Negundo keep their germinating power somewhat longer. The early-ripening species, like A. saccharinum and A. rubrum, muat be sown as soon as they are ripe and they will germinate the same year. A. campestre, A. monspessulanum and other species of this group do not usually germinate until the second year. The varieties and rare species may be budded in summer on the typical forms or on species of the same group; kinds belonging to different groups cannot, as a rule, be grafted on each other; e.g., varieties of A. platanoides will not grow on A. pseudoplatanus and vice versa, but A. insigne will grow on A. pseudoplatanus, as they belong to the same group. Some shrubby species, as A. palmatum, also A. cissifolium, A. ginnala var. Semenowi, and A. laetum var. rubrum, may be propagated by layers or half-ripened greenwood cuttings in summer, or, still better, by cuttings taken from forced plants in early spring in the greenhouse. A. Negundo grows also from hardwood cuttings. Fancy maples are readily winter-grafted by the veneer method, the stocks being grown in pots. The Japanese kinds are usually worked on imported stocks of A. palmatum. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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