Chapter IX 



THE BUTTONWOOD, THE TUPELO, AND 

 THE MULBERRIES 



Families Platanaceae, Cornaceae, and Moracaa 



THERE is but one genus in the family 

 PlatanacecB, and but one species in the 

 genus found growing in the North- 

 eastern States, the buttonwood, or sycamore. 



, A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high, 



Sycamore, or with an irregular, picturesque 



Plane Tree outline. The bark breaks off in 



Platanus occidentalis . . . . . 



thin, brittle plates at the base of 

 the trunk, and higher up it is smooth, an olive 

 green color, and covered with white blotches. 

 The buds are subpetiolar, that is, they are 

 covered over by the base of the leafstalk through 

 the summer, and concealed entirely until the 

 leaf drops off. The leaf -scar is in the shape of 

 a ring around the bud, with prominejit bundle- 

 scars ; the arrangement of the leaf-scars is alter- 

 nate. Stipule scars are found on the stems 



in some places. The buds are conical, smooth, 



117 



