74 



Common Trees 



T 



SYCAMORE 



Platanus occidentalis, ^Linnaeus 



HE Sycamore, also called Buttonball, Buttonwood and 

 Plane Tree is the most massive tree of Ohio. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, broadly ovate, 3 to 5- 

 lobed, 4 to 10 inches across, bright green above, pale green 

 and white woolly below. The leaf -stalks are about 2 inches 

 long, enlarged and hol- 

 lowed at base. 



The flowers arc of 

 two kinds, occur in 

 dense ball-like heads, 

 attached to twigs by 

 long slender stalks. 



The fruit consists of 

 tiny seeds, arranged in 

 ball-like heads about 1 

 inch in diameter, at- 

 tached to twigs by long 

 slender stalks. 



The bark on old 



trunks is rather thick, 

 dark brown, peels off in 

 broad scales. On young 

 stems and the upper 

 part of larger trunks it 

 peels off in thin scales 

 exposing white, green- 

 ish and yellowish inner 

 bark. The twigs are 

 rather stout, at first 

 green and fuzzy, later 

 grayish to brown and 

 smooth. The buds arc 



about 



of an inch 



SYCAMORE 



One-fourth natural size. 



Flowera and twig sections, enlarged. 



Ter- 



long, conical, dull-pointed, smooth, reddish-brown, 

 ^ninal bud is absent. 



The wood is hard, strong, reddish-brown. It is used for 

 boxes, furniture, novelties, charcoal, chemicals. 



The Sycamore is native from Maine to Minnesota and 

 south to Florida and Texas. Moist to wet fertile soil is 

 its favorite home. This tree is generally distributed through- 

 out Ohio along streams and in other moist to wet places, 

 but is not common in the northern part of the State. The 

 Oriental Plane Tree, a close relative of our Sycamore, has 

 been planted in Ohio for ornamental purposes. 



