Acer saccharinum, L.

Form.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-4 feet; trunk usually short and soon divided into several large, ascending branches which subdivide and form a large open, rounded, or vase-shaped crown.

Leaves.—Opposite, simple, 3-6 inches long, deeply 5-lobed, the lobes cut and toothed, sinuses deep, light green above, silvery-white beneath, downy when young, petioles long and slender.

Flowers.—March-April; polygamo-monoecious or dioecious, yellow-green in crowded umbels.

Fruit.—Matures in May; large paired samaras, with wings 1-2 inches long.

Bark.—On old trunks roughened by shallow fissures and flat-topped ridges with thin, loose scales.

Wood.—Medium hard, brittle, close-grained, not durable, light brown, with thick whitish sapwood.

Range.—New Brunswick to Florida, and west to Indian Territory.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Common along the following streams: Potomac River and its larger tributaries, Great Kanawha, New, Elk, Little Coal, Big Sandy, Little Kanawha, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers.

Habitat.—Confined to river banks and swamp borders.

Notes.—This species, also known as White Maple, River Maple, and Soft Maple, is one of the less valuable of the genus. Its lumber is used principally for flooring, cheap furniture and paper pulp. Silver Maple is extensively planted along streets and in parks. It grows rapidly, often becoming too large, and has a less perfect crown than some of the other maples.