MOUNTAIN MAPLE (Ace?. spicatum, Lam.). Shrub to 30 feet. Shrubby tree, with several small upright limbs, and pale, at first pubescent twigs, and thin, reddish, smooth bark. Leaves 4 to 5 inches broad and long, with three shallow broad lobes at apex, and sometimes a faint pair at base; margin coarsely saw-toothed. Thin, strongly 3-veined, pale and pubescent beneath, scarlet and orange in autumn; petioles long, red. Flowers in terminal spike, minute, greenish, with
long, narrow petals. Fruit divergent, winged keys, inch long, red until ripe, clustered. Dist.: Shady forest slopes, Canada and the northern tier of states; south along the Ap palachian Mountains to Georgia. Reaches largest size in mountainous Tennessee and North Carolina.