Maple

The maples make up the genus Acer, about 132 species of trees and shrubs in the soapberry family, most of them native to East Asia, with others in Europe, northern Africa and North America. Most are trees of ten to forty-five metres with opposite, palmately lobed leaves, many are prized for their autumn colour, and all bear paired, winged fruits, the samaras or keys, which spin as they fall and ride the wind. Sugar maple sap is boiled down into maple syrup, the hard timber goes into furniture, bowling pins and the backs of violins, and a maple leaf is the emblem on the flag of Canada. The Latin acer means sharp, which may come from the Greek and Roman use of the wood for spears; the Anglo-Saxons made shields of it, and in medieval England both the tree and a drinking bowl made from a large maple burl were called a mazer. An old belief held that a child passed through the branches of a maple would live long, and Kynes adds that it could also cure illness and turn aside the evil eye. In magical practice the leaves go into love spells and money rituals, branches have long been cut for wands, and three seeds hung in a sachet on the bedpost are said to foster prophetic dreams.