Kœlreutèria paniculàta, Laxm. Leaflets thin and very irregularly toothed. Clusters 6 to 12 in. long, of many irregular flowers, ½ in. wide; through the summer. Fruit an ovate, bladdery capsule, ripening in autumn. A fine, small, round-headed tree, 20 to 40 ft. high; from China. Probably hardy throughout.

Genus 25. ÀCER.

Trees, or rarely shrubs, with simple, opposite, and almost always palmately lobed leaves, which, in our species, are always deciduous. Flowers small and usually dull-colored, in clusters. Fruit double-winged and 2-seeded, in some species hanging on the tree till the leaves have fallen; in others dropping off early in the spring. The species differ much in the spreading of the wings of the fruit. Wood light-colored and medium hard; bark rather smoothish, but in large trees with longitudinal cracks.

* Leaves slightly or not lobed 13.
* Leaves about 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed); shrubs or small trees. (A.)
A. Leaves serrate 1, 2.
A. Leaves somewhat sinuate, not at all serrate; juice milky. 10.
* Leaves 5-, rarely 3-lobed. (B.)
B. The lobes acute, irregularly but quite fully serrate; juice not milky. (C.)
C. The fruit in corymbs, dropping early; American species. (D.)
D. Leaf-notches somewhat rounded; tree large; limbs drooping on old trees 3.
D. Leaf-notches acute; tree small 4.
C. Fruit in hanging racemes, remaining on the tree till autumn; leaves thickish 5.
B. The lobes acute; sparingly or not at all serrate. (E.)
E. Juice not milky 6.
E. Juice milky at the bases of the leaves 8, 9.
B. The lobes obtuse and sinuate 10.
* Leaves 5- to 7-lobed. (F.)
F. Lobes fully serrate 11.
F. Lobes sparingly serrate. (G.)
G. Juice milky 8, 9.
G. Juice not milky; leaves 8 to 10 in. broad 7.
F. Lobes somewhat sinuate, not serrate; juice milky 10.
* Leaves with 7 or more lobes 11, 12.

À. spicàtum.

1. Àcer spicàtum, Lam. (Mountain Maple.) Leaves with 3 (rarely 5) coarsely serrated, taper-pointed lobes, with slightly cordate base; downy beneath. Flowers greenish-yellow, in erect, slender racemes or panicles, blooming in June. Wings of the small fruit at about a right angle. Small tree, 6 to 10 ft. high, or usually a shrub, with brown twigs. Native; growing in moist woods; rarely cultivated.

À. Pennsylvánicum.

2. Àcer Pennsylvánicum, L. (Striped Maple.) Leaves large, thin, 3-lobed at the end, cordate at base, finely and sharply doubly serrate. Flowers greenish, in drooping, elongated, loose racemes appearing after the leaves in spring. Fruit with large diverging wings. A small, slender tree, with light green bark striped with dark red. Wild throughout and cultivated.