48 THE SYCAMORE. 



forester, would soon disappear. Its acorns would indeed 

 fall to the ground, and perhaps germinate, but would 

 rarely become trees ; for the Oak, like many other trees, 

 will not nourish under the shade of its own species. I 

 may here observe that the mast-bearing trees generally, 

 such as the Oak, the Chestnut, and the Beech, are 

 indebted for their propagation to animals whose instinct 

 leads them to bury their food : those provided with 

 winged seeds, such as the Sycamore, the Ash, and the 

 Elm, to storms and tempests ; and the drupe-bearing trees 

 (those, namely, which are furnished with stone-fruit), to 

 frugivorous birds, which fly away with the fruit, and drop 

 the seed. Thus by the wise arrangement of the Almighty 

 do these several classes of trees derive the greatest benefit 

 from what we, at first sight, might imagine to be most 

 productive of injury. 



From the extreme fecundity of this tree, Martyn argues 

 that if it were truly indigenous, it would ere this have 

 filled the whole country, instead of being a simple occupant 

 of plantations and hedges. In Switzerland, Germany, 

 Austria, and Italy, it is found abundantly in the moun- 

 tainous forests, and may therefore with propriety be 

 considered a native of those countries, whence it was 

 probably introduced into Britain in the end of the 

 fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. There 

 are several varieties of Sycamore, which are propagated by 

 grafting. The most remarkable among these are, the 

 Yellow-leaved, or Costorphine Plane, 1 which is not 

 common, except in the neighbourhood of the place from 

 which it takes its name ; and the Purple-leaved, so called 

 from having the under-surface of its leaves, especially in 

 spring, tinged with dark purple. The value of all these 

 as ornamental trees, is much enhanced by the earliness of 

 the season when they come into leaf. 



Chaucer speaks of it as a rare exotic, in the fourteenth 



1 In Scotland the Sycamore is frequently called "The Plane." 



