BUTTONVVOOD AND LIQUIDAMBER. 175 



several large sycamores on "Washington Square in 

 jS T ew York, the hollow trunk of one of which was 

 the haunt of a gray squirrel, the pet of the police- 

 man in charge of the park and of the children in 

 the neighborhood ; but that particular tree has long 

 since disappeared, and within a few feet of the 

 spot where it stood is now the beautiful white 

 marble Washington Arch. The bark of the button- 

 wood has a peculiar way of peeling off each year in 

 broad, thin, brittle scales ; this gives the trunk a re- 

 markable patched effect in light buff and brown-gray 

 color, quite sufficient for the complete identification 

 of the tree. The fruit is a pretty little, round, but- 

 tonlike ball, which hangs by its long, wiry stem 

 swinging in the wind through the greater part of 

 the winter. 



The buttonwood attains its greatest proportions 

 in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 

 where it is commonly seen over 80 feet high. Its 

 wood is brownish, coarse-grained, and apt to crack ; it 

 also decays rapidly if exposed to the weather ; never- 

 theless, the grain of the wood is exceedingly beauti- 

 ful, and shows itself to great advantage in the in- 

 terior trimmings of a house. It is also used in the 

 manufacture of cigar boxes. 



The Oriental plane tree {Platcmus orientalis), 



sometimes planted in our parks, is very similar to 

 13 



