TREES OF AMERICA. 103 



"Uncle Philip, where can I see a tuUp- 

 tree? I should like to look at the flowers 

 very much, and at the tree too ; I love large 

 trees." 



" You may see the flowers in m^et during 

 the spring ; or if you will go into the woods 

 almost anywhere, you will be sure to find 

 some of the trees, for it is quite common all 

 over the United States, except at the East. 

 But you must not expect to find it as large 

 about here as it is near the great rivers of the 

 West. 



" But if you admire the size of the tulip- 

 tree so much, what do you think of the 

 majestic sycamore, or button-ball, as most 

 people call it in this part of the country ; the 

 largest and loftiest tree that grows in the 

 United States. Very often it may be seen on 

 the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi with a 

 trunk seven feet thick, and sixty or seventy 

 high, perfectly free from branches, which 

 then tower up fifty, sixty, and even eighty 

 feet higher, making the whole tree from a 

 hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty 

 feet high." 



" Uncle Philip, what is the reason that trees 

 always grow larger in the Western States 



