=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; found in a wider range of soils than any other species of the genus, but seeming to prefer a gravelly or peaty loam in positions where its roots can reach a constant supply of moisture. It is more variable than any other of the native maples and consequently is not so good a tree for streets, where a symmetrical outline and uniform habit are required. It is transplanted readily, but recovers its vigor more slowly than does the sugar or silver maple and is usually of slower growth. Its variable habit makes it an exceedingly interesting tree in the landscape. [Illustration: PLATE LXXI.--Acer rubrum.] 1. Leaf-buds. 2. Flower-buds. 3. Branch with sterile flowers. 4. Sterile flower. 5. Branch with sterile and fertile flowers. 6. Fertile flower. 7. Fruiting branch. 8. Variant leaves. =Acer saccharinum, L.= _Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh._ SILVER MAPLE. SOFT MAPLE. WHITE MAPLE. RIVER MAPLE. =Habitat and Range.=--Along streams, in rich intervale lands, and in moist, deep-soiled forests, but not in swamps. Infrequent from New Brunswick to Ottawa, abundant from Ottawa throughout Ontario. Occasional throughout the New England states; most common and best developed upon the banks of rivers and lakes at low altitudes. South to the Gulf states; west to Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian territory; attaining its maximum size in the basins of the Ohio and its tributaries; rare towards the seacoast throughout the whole range. =Habit.=--A handsome tree, 50-60 feet in height; trunk 2-5 feet in diameter, separating a few feet from the ground into several large, slightly diverging branches. These, naked for some distance, repeatedly subdivide at wider angles, forming a very wide head, much broader near the top. The ultimate branches are long and slender, often forming on the lower limbs a pendulous fringe sometimes reaching to the ground. Distinguished in winter by its characteristic graceful outlines, and by its flower-buds conspicuously scattered along the tips of the branchlets; in summer by the silvery-white under-surface of its deeply cut leaves. It is among the first of the New England trees to blossom, preceding the red maple by one to three weeks. =Bark.=--Bark of trunk smooth and gray in young trees, becoming with age rougher and darker, more or less ridged, separating into thin, loose scales; young shoots chestnut-colored in autumn, smooth, polished, profusely marked with light dots.