44 THE SYCAMORE. 



claim to be mentioned in connexion with any national 

 boast. It has even been denied the possession of any 

 picturesque beauty. Evelyn says of it, "The Sycamore 

 is much more in reputation for its shade than it deserves ; 

 for the honey-dew leaves, which fall early, like those of 

 the Ash, turn to mucilage and noxious insects, and putrefy 

 with the first moisture of the season ; and are therefore, by 

 my consent, to be banished from all curious gardens and 

 avenues." If the trees, however, "be very tall and hand- 

 some, they are the more tolerable for distant walks, 

 especially where other better trees prosper not so well, or 

 where a sudden shade is expected. Some commend them 

 to thicken copses, especially in parks, as least apt to the 

 of deer, and that it is good fire- wood." 



The name Acer, given to it by the "Romans, is derived 

 from Acer, Acris, sharp or hard (ac, Celtic, a point), on 

 account of the hardness of the wood, which was used for 

 making spears and other sharp-pointed instruments ; or, 

 as some are pleased to say, from acre ingenium, a sharp 

 wit, from its being so much in use by most ingenious 

 artificers in fine works. Its specific name, Pseudo-Pldtanus, 

 means Mock-Plane, being given to it in consequence of 

 the resemblance borne by its leaves to those of the 

 Plane-tree. The name Sycamore was given to it by 

 the older botanists, who erroneously believed it to be iden- 

 tical with the Sycamore, 1 or Mulberry-fig, of Palestine, 

 which it somewhat resembles in the size and form of its 

 leaves. 



No tree propagates itself more readily in this country, 

 as may be easily inferred from the great number of seed- 

 lings which are to be found springing spontaneously from, 

 the ground in the vicinity of Sycamores which have begun 

 to bear seeds. In its earliest stage it is a puny herbaceous 

 plant, furnished with two, or sometimes more, narrow 

 smooth leaves, entire at the edges : these are the cotyle- 



1 From syke, a fig, and moros, a mulberry, being said to resemble 

 the mulberry-tree in the leaf, and the fig in its fruit. 



