LIQUroAMBAR 105 



Fruit a long-stalked globose dry head formed by numerous some- 

 what cohering capsules. 



1. _L. styraciflua L. Sweetgum. A tree 15-35 m. high, the 

 trunk 6-12 dm. in diameter, the bark very rough; branches often 

 winged with corky ridges; twigs shiny, green or brown, aromatic; 

 buds 6-12 mm. long, the scales orange-brown. Moist woods, 

 Florida to Texas, Mexico and Central America, north to New York, 

 Ohio and Missouri (Fig. 122). 



PLATANUS L. (Platanaceae) 



Large open deciduous trees with exfoliating bark. Twigs 

 moderate, rounded, glabrous, buff, zigzag; pith moderate, white 

 or brownish, rounded, continuous. Buds solitary, rather large, 

 sessile, conical, with a single cap-like scale; end bud lacking. 

 Leaf-scars alternate 2-ranked, ring-like and nearly encircling 

 the buds; bundle-traces 5, 7, or 9, large; stipule-scars narrow, 

 encircling the twig. Fruit a globose head of elongated obovoid 

 achenes, each with a circle of upright brown hairs at the base. 



1. P^ occidentalis L. Sycamore . Buttonwood. Plane-tree. A 

 tree 35-50 m. high, 1-3 m. in diameter; bark covered with broad 

 curling scales which are shed off, exposing the smooth greenish- 

 white surface; fruit-balls solitary, on long stalks, present in 

 winter, but disintegrating as the season progresses. Rich moist 

 soil, Maine to Ontario and Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas. 

 The largest tree of the northeast (Fig. 123). 



PHYSOCARPUS Maxim. (Rosaceae) 



Loosely branching deciduous shrubs with quickly shredding 

 brown bark. Twigs terete, 5-lined at the nodes, slender; pith 

 large, brownish, round, continuous. Buds small, solitary, ses- 

 sile, conical- oblong or ovoid, with about 5 loose scales. Leaf- 

 scars alternate, elliptical or 3-lobed; bundle-traces 3, unequal, 

 the lower one larger than the others; stipule-scars small. 



1. JP, opulifolius (L. ) Maxim. Ninebark . A shrub 1-3 m.high, 

 with long branches, the old bark loose and separating in numerous 

 thin layers (whence the common name); buds pointed, appressed; 

 twigs glabrous; fruit, as clustered small dry follicles, present in 

 winter. Shores and rocky banks, Quebec to Ontario, Minnesota 

 and Colorado, south to South Carolina and Arkansas (Fig. 124). 



SPIRAEA L. (Rosaceae) 



Low deciduous shrubs, usually with stiff wand-like branches. 

 Twigs round or somewhat angled near the nodes, slender; pith 



