Acer

[Lat., the maple.] ( Bot.) A genus of arborescent or shrubby plants, ord. Acerineæ, many of which are extremely valuable for the sake either of their timber, or of their ornamental appearance. The Acer rubrum, or red maple, is a tree 50 ft. in height, very common in low woods throughout the Atlantic states. Its trunk is covered with smooth bark, marked with large white spots, becoming dark with age. In spring its appearance is remarkable for the deep crimson flowers with which it is thickly clothed. The wood, particularly that of the variety called curled maple, is much used in cabinet-work. The Acer saccharinum, or sugar-tree, is a tree 70 feet in height, 3 feet in diameter, found throughout the United States, and constituting the greater part of some of the forests of New England. The wood is hard and has a satin lustre, but it is readily attacked by insects, and is not of much value, except when its grain is accidentally waved, and then it is in request for the cabinet-makers. The branches become numerous and finely ramified in open situations, and in summer are clothed with a foliage of uncommon luxuriance and beauty. The flowers are very abundant, and, suspended on long, thread-like pedicels, are most delicately beautiful. The saccharine matter contained in its ascending sap, obtained by tapping the trunk in the spring, is perhaps the most delicions of all sweets; an ordinary tree yields from 5 to 10 pounds in a season. - The Acer Penn sylvan i cum, or whistle-wood, is a small tree or shrub 10 to 15 feet high, very common in the northern woods of America, prized in Europe in ornamental gardening. The bark is smooth, and beautifully striped lengthwise with green and black. Flowers large, yellowish-green, succeeded by long clusters of fruit, with pale-green wings. Acera'ceæ, and Aceri'neæ, n . pl . ( Bot .) An order of plants, alliance Sap in dales , comprehending only the genus Acer (maples), and Negundo (ash-leaved maples). They are known-1. by their flowers being what is called unsymmetrical, that is, not having the various parts agreeing in number: for instance, while the calyx and corolla are divided each into five parts, there are seven, eight, or nine stamens, and three divisions of the pistillum; 2. by their stamens being hypogynous and inserted upon a disk; 3. by their winged fruit, or keys ; and, 4. by their petals having no appendages upon them. The species are all trees or shrubs, with opposite stalked exstipulate leaves, and are found exclusively in the north of Europe, Asia, America, and India. A sweet, mucilaginous sap is common in these plants, from which sugar can be manufactured.