Speaker 1: Chapter ten of Ten Common Trees. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: Marianne Spiegel. Ten Common Trees by Susan Stokes. Chapter ten,
Speaker 1: The red maple good news, good news. Winter is going
Speaker 1: winter with his gloomy skies and whistling winds. Winter who
Speaker 1: gives the fields and the trees so old? They are
Speaker 1: beards of icicle and snow. There's not a robin to
Speaker 1: be seen, not a spring beauty peeping out of the snow.
Speaker 1: But down by the river I have found a tree,
Speaker 1: a beautiful red tree. It blooms earlier than the pussy willows,
Speaker 1: earlier than the crocuses. Sometimes it blooms so very early
Speaker 1: that the gray old king nips its buds and turns
Speaker 1: its twigs brown. There are no leaves yet on this tree,
Speaker 1: but you may know it by its shape, by the
Speaker 1: compact round head, low branches, sharp angles, and bushy twigs.
Speaker 1: The bark is thin, a grayish brown on the trunk,
Speaker 1: red on the twigs. It is smooth above, but down
Speaker 1: below it has cracked lengthwise let us see what kind
Speaker 1: of tree it is. Here on the twigs are the
Speaker 1: scars of last year's leaves, in pairs and v shaped.
Speaker 1: If there are three or four eyes in each scar,
Speaker 1: it is a maple. This one, with its red twigs
Speaker 1: and flowers, is the red maple. It grows wild along
Speaker 1: streams and in swamps. Sometimes we call it the swamp maple.
Speaker 1: The flowers are these bright red tufts. The poet Lowell
Speaker 1: calls them the maples corals. There are so many of
Speaker 1: them that they color the whole tree red. You must
Speaker 1: look closely to discover that there are two kinds. Some
Speaker 1: of them have little balls covered with yellow dust, while
Speaker 1: others have just two tiny red plumes in each flower.
Speaker 1: On this tree you find a great man any of
Speaker 1: the balls, and only a few of the plumes. But
Speaker 1: on some of the trees you will find a great
Speaker 1: many of the plumes, with but very few balls. In
Speaker 1: some families, all the children are boys, in others girls,
Speaker 1: and in others there are boys and girls together. So
Speaker 1: with the maple. One tree may have balls or stamens alone,
Speaker 1: another plumes or pistols, and still another, though this kind
Speaker 1: is more rare, may have stamens and pistols. Together. Both
Speaker 1: the balls and the plumes grow in red cups. These
Speaker 1: help to keep them warm. It would not be safe
Speaker 1: for every tree to bloom at this season, but the
Speaker 1: red maple seems to be prepared for cold weather in
Speaker 1: several ways. First, the flowers grow in tufts that keeps
Speaker 1: out some of the wind, for they bloom just when
Speaker 1: wild march winds on their errands sing. Second, the buds
Speaker 1: are protected by scales. You will find them turned back
Speaker 1: just below the open flowers, but they show better in
Speaker 1: the bud. Around the young flowers there is a brown
Speaker 1: and shiny coat of resin, a waterproof to keep out
Speaker 1: the rain and snow. They are so small, these tiny flowers,
Speaker 1: that they do not need a waterproof for each, but
Speaker 1: are wrapped up three or four together. Third, when the
Speaker 1: bud scales turn back and the flowers push out on
Speaker 1: their pedicels, they have still two red cloaks or cups,
Speaker 1: which keep the inner parts warm. The outer of these
Speaker 1: is called a calyx, the inner a corolla. When the
Speaker 1: cup contains stamens, they may be from four to twelve
Speaker 1: in number, each with a tiny ball or anther. Each
Speaker 1: ball has four little pockets full of yellow dust called pollen.
Speaker 1: When the pollen falls upon the red plumes, it pushes
Speaker 1: its way into the urn shaped body at the base.
Speaker 1: This then begins to grow. Its shoulders enlarge, and each
Speaker 1: becomes a broad, flat wing or sail. Such a two
Speaker 1: winged fruit is a samara or key. You may remember
Speaker 1: seeing such keys late in the year, when the wind
Speaker 1: carries them about, whisking them into corners or dropping them
Speaker 1: in the shade of the mother tree. Some day you
Speaker 1: may open one and see what is within. Carefully cut
Speaker 1: away one wall of the thickened base, there are two
Speaker 1: little rooms, and in each one is a seed. Now
Speaker 1: cut off the seed wall, also what you find two
Speaker 1: tiny baby maples twins. They are wrapped up and swung
Speaker 1: in a winged cradle. Each one has a tiny root
Speaker 1: and two little leaves. The root works down into the
Speaker 1: soil and gathers water with its velvety root hairs. The
Speaker 1: stem pushes up into the sunlight. The second pair of
Speaker 1: leaves differ in shape from the first or seed leaves,
Speaker 1: and the third are more perfect. Still, all summer long,
Speaker 1: the little maples grow, adding to their crown of leaves,
Speaker 1: till in the fall they may be two feet tall.
Speaker 1: Then winter comes and the cold kills them off by
Speaker 1: the hundreds. The red maple blooms early, so that the
Speaker 1: children grow tall and strong before winter begins. The keys,
Speaker 1: falling as they dew down upon the wet soil of
Speaker 1: marsh and river, could not live through the winter, but
Speaker 1: would decay. Fortunately, the swamp maple blooms in March and
Speaker 1: drops its keys in May. When this is done, the
Speaker 1: maple has summer before it, the long warm summer in
Speaker 1: which to work and build. After the flowers bloom, the
Speaker 1: winter buds unfold. The winter buds are at the end
Speaker 1: of the twigs and are darker in color than the
Speaker 1: flower buds. They too are covered with scales, coated with resin,
Speaker 1: and lined with wool. There are six or eight of them.
Speaker 1: Do you see a scar just below the flower buds
Speaker 1: on either side? The flower buds grew in the axle
Speaker 1: of the lowest scale, and it has fallen away and
Speaker 1: left a scar. The first leaves are not quite perfect,
Speaker 1: but seem to be half leaf half scale. Having been
Speaker 1: wrapped up in the bud all winter, they never recover
Speaker 1: from the effects of the crowded position spread. One of
Speaker 1: the later leaves out on your hand, and you will
Speaker 1: see why they are described as palmatta, or five lobed.
Speaker 1: If you look at a number, you may find some
Speaker 1: with only three lobes. The margin is notched, and the
Speaker 1: leaves are opposite. When they first unfold, the leaves are
Speaker 1: deep red in color. As they grow older and turn green,
Speaker 1: the maple uses them to prepare food. It takes the
Speaker 1: water from the soil and gas from the air, just
Speaker 1: such gas as you throw out of your lungs, and
Speaker 1: it mixes them there behind the green curtain. The curtain
Speaker 1: is of wonderful material. It does not let all the
Speaker 1: light through. That which passes is of a deep green color,
Speaker 1: and it turns the gas and water into starch and sugar.
Speaker 1: When October comes, the season for making food is over.
Speaker 1: Then the maple takes in the green curtains and puts
Speaker 1: up some of crimson and yellow and scarlet. This is
Speaker 1: the time when squirrels gather their nuts and farmers house
Speaker 1: their grain for winter use. The trees, too, are making
Speaker 1: ready for winter. They are storing sap away in the trunk.
Speaker 1: The beautiful colors are also useful. Though trees need sunlight,
Speaker 1: it may sometimes be too strong. The food which is
Speaker 1: carried in the sap might easily be hurt by the sunlight,
Speaker 1: but the bright colors turn back a part of the
Speaker 1: light so that the food reaches the trunk in safety.
Speaker 1: The young leaves are also red until they begin to
Speaker 1: produce the leaf green, which they use in making the food.
Speaker 1: When the food is safely stored, the tree has no
Speaker 1: further use for the leaves. They turn brown and fall
Speaker 1: to the ground, but they are not altogether lost, for
Speaker 1: the soil they fall upon is richer for the shower
Speaker 1: of leaves. There is something else which a maple makes
Speaker 1: during the sunny summer. It is wood, wood in which
Speaker 1: to keep warm when the wintry winds are blowing. The
Speaker 1: wood is somewhat pink in color, and is often used
Speaker 1: to make furniture, gun stocks, and other things. One kind,
Speaker 1: the bird's eye maple, is very handsome. You may look
Speaker 1: for it yourself some day. The wood extends out into
Speaker 1: the bark in very many minute prickles. When this is
Speaker 1: cut and polished, it is found to be marked with
Speaker 1: many circular grains the bird's eyes. Another kind is the
Speaker 1: curly maple. The woody fibers which are usually quite straight,
Speaker 1: are sometimes wavy. When such wood is polished, it shows
Speaker 1: lights and shades like the folds of a satin gown,
Speaker 1: and is called curly maple. Did you ever think how
Speaker 1: long it takes a tree to build its house of wood?
Speaker 1: If you are small enough to go through all its rooms,
Speaker 1: you would find it a perfect palace. Every year new
Speaker 1: rooms are added, always between the wood and the bark.
Speaker 1: In this way, a ring is added each year. We
Speaker 1: can tell the age of a tree by the number
Speaker 1: of rings in the wood. If there are a hundred rings,
Speaker 1: the tree is a hundred years old. Such a tree
Speaker 1: has many friends. It is fixed in a single place,
Speaker 1: but the winds and the birds can come and go.
Speaker 1: The wind is a family friend of long standing, one
Speaker 1: that has been trusted by the family for generations. He
Speaker 1: carries the pollen from tree to tree and starts the
Speaker 1: children out into the world. He also drives the clouds
Speaker 1: to the hills and cools the leaves when the air
Speaker 1: is hot. As for others, the shyest birds sing in
Speaker 1: its branches. It shares their joys and sorrows, and protects
Speaker 1: them with its shade. Other good friend is Jack Frost,
Speaker 1: who warns it when winter is coming, that it may
Speaker 1: be ready. But Jack is not the maple's friend alone.
Speaker 1: He does many kind things for nature's other children. The
Speaker 1: wild geese must be driven southward. The gray partridge must
Speaker 1: be warned to put on her snow white feathers. He
Speaker 1: whispers to the brown bear to find a hollow tree,
Speaker 1: and invites the red squirrel to north hollow when he
Speaker 1: opens the farmer's chestnuts. How would you like to live
Speaker 1: a life like that at the maple? You could never
Speaker 1: leave your house at all, but it would be warm
Speaker 1: and comfortable during the cold, hard winters. Sometimes the melting
Speaker 1: snows would swell the streams in the spring and would
Speaker 1: wash all the earth from your roots. Or the worms
Speaker 1: might eat the leaves from your branches, the sugar man
Speaker 1: might steal your sap, or the lumber man take your house.
Speaker 1: But think of the long days of sunshine under blue skies,
Speaker 1: when you could wave your leaves in the breeze, of
Speaker 1: the cool showers, and of the lofty nights with the
Speaker 1: moon and stars and crooning birds. Native maples, the red maple,
Speaker 1: is found in the northern and eastern part of the
Speaker 1: United States. It is often planted along streets or in parks,
Speaker 1: but grows wild only in river bottoms and swampy places.
Speaker 1: It has a great many relatives which you may meet,
Speaker 1: and which you may know by their palmate, opposite leaves
Speaker 1: and two winged fruit, although they may differ in other respects.
Speaker 1: The silver maple is a tall tree with a pale
Speaker 1: bark which flakes off in thin sheets. Like the red maple,
Speaker 1: it blooms early, but its tufts of flowers are much
Speaker 1: thicker and its buds more numerous. When the flowers come out,
Speaker 1: there is a single hairy green cup to keep the
Speaker 1: inner parts warm. Its leaves are silvery below with deep
Speaker 1: sharp notches. This tree is widely planted, for it grows
Speaker 1: very rapidly. The wood is soft and when burned, does
Speaker 1: not give much heat. The sugar maple is another relative
Speaker 1: and is well known for its sweet sap. It does
Speaker 1: not bloom early. The flowers and leaves come out together,
Speaker 1: and the keys are not shed until October. They fall
Speaker 1: on dry ground, however, and the seed leaves are filled
Speaker 1: with starch, so they wait till spring before they start
Speaker 1: to grow. The flower has a long pedicel and there
Speaker 1: is but one cup. The leaves are nearly round with
Speaker 1: a few large blunt notches. It is known as the
Speaker 1: hard maple, for the wood is tough and clothes grained.
Speaker 1: The striped maple has light green bark striped with dark lines.
Speaker 1: The wood is hard and fine, but it does not
Speaker 1: grow very tall unless it is grafted upon a young
Speaker 1: tree of another kind of maple, when it may become
Speaker 1: sixty or seventy feet high. The mountain maple is shrubby. Also,
Speaker 1: its leaves appear before the flowers, which occur in a
Speaker 1: long spike at the end of twigs. There are large
Speaker 1: numbers of keys in a cluster. The great leaved maple
Speaker 1: of California has leaves which are often a foot broad,
Speaker 1: and the scar is marked with seven eyes. Another the
Speaker 1: vine maple of Oregon, forms dense clumps. It divides near
Speaker 1: the base, and the long branches bend over by their
Speaker 1: own weight, taking root where they touch the ground. There
Speaker 1: are also many maples which have been brought over from Europe.
Speaker 1: The box elder closely resembles the maple, but its stamens
Speaker 1: and pistols do not occur on the same tree. Its
Speaker 1: leaves consist of from three to five leaflets. End of
Speaker 1: chapter ten,