352 ] Trees and Hoiv to Know Them 



mark." It is a dense ball about an inch thick which is green at 

 first but later turns brown. 



Because of this button-like fruit, the sycamore is sometimes 

 called the button-ball tree or buttonwood. A "button" dangles 

 from a long slender stem throughout the winter. When spring 

 arrives, the button breaks up into many hairy nutlets. 



Sycamores are chiefly useful as shade trees, but their wood is of 

 some value for musical instruments. 



AMERICAN ELMS GRACEFUL AND TOUGH 



In summertime this tree, when it is growing in the open, 

 is likely to remind you of a huge vase filled with foliage. From its 

 rounded wide-spreading top it tapers downward in the manner of 

 many graceful flower-holders. After it sheds its first foliage, you 

 will notice how the trunk divides gradually at ten to twenty feet 

 above the ground into two or more stout branches. The gray bark 

 is furrowed in perpendicular flat-topped ridges. 



The Elm's Purplish Haze: In early spring you may wonder 

 whether your eyes are deceiving you, or if there really is a purple 

 glow over that elm tree a short distance ahead of you. Your eyes 

 are not playing tricks: The purple haze is produced by clusters 

 of light-green blossoms with red stamens, all over the tree. Seeds 

 develop from them even before the leaves are fully open in May 

 or June; they are flat and surrounded by a broad papery wing. 

 When the seeds are planted, some may germinate within a few 

 days; many, however, remain dormant until the next spring. 



Lopsided Leaves: The leaves of this elm have the peculiarity of 

 being lopsided; one side of each leaf is larger than the other. 

 Their parallel veins are evenly spaced and go directly from the 

 midrib to the sawtooth edges. The upper surface is somewhat 

 rough and the undersurface softly hairy. 



What Elm Wood Is Used For: The wood of this tree is so hard 

 as to make it impractical for many uses; yet the very hardness of 

 elm wood makes it ideal for such purposes as the hubs of heavy 



