THE SYCAMORE OR BUTTONWOOD 



IT is fitting that so distinctive a tree as the But ton wood, or American Plane-tree which 

 in many places is more commonly called the Sycamore, should be the only repre- 

 sentative of its family in our region. It has many characteristics that help to give 

 it a unique place in one's consciousness, and one who has been familiar with it as it grows 

 to magnificent proportions along the banks of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and their 

 tributaries would always wish to see it in that situation described by the poet Bryant: 



" Clear are the depths where its eddies play, 



And dimples deepen and whirl away; 

 And the plane tree's speckled arms o'er-shoot 



The swifter current that mines its root." 



As seen at a distance the most characteristic feature of the Buttonwood is the 

 peculiar color of the bark on the trunk. Great white blotches stand out most markedly, 

 covered here and there by large flecks of brown bark. The branches also have a character- 

 istic brush-like manner of growth that is easily recognized from afar. As one draws nearer 

 to the tree the distinctive characters of the almost circular, palmately-lobed leaves may 

 be seen. These leaves are lighter below than above, the under surface being covered with 

 a cottony down which is especially marked along the principal veins. The base of the 

 petiole covers the bud in a most interesting and characteristic fashion. When the leaves 

 appear in spring they are accompanied by large stipules that usually drop off when the 

 foliage attains full size. 



The flowers of the Sycamore appear early in May, about the time the leaves begin to 

 develop. The pollen-bearing and the seed-bearing blossoms are separate but often upon 

 the same branch, being massed together in small round heads with rather short hairy 

 stalks. The tree apparently depends upon cross-pollination by the wind, the seed-bearing 

 flowers on a given tree maturing in advance of the pollen-bearing ones. 



The fruit ripens in autumn into round balls that give the name Buttonwood to the 

 tree, these balls breaking up through the winter and the seeds are scattered far and wide 

 by w r ind and water. The range of the Buttonwood extends from New England west to 

 Nebraska and south to Texas and Florida. The trees often attain an enormous size, and 

 seem to reach their largest proportions in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 



In the extreme West and Southwest two other species of Sycamore are found. 

 One of these, known technically as Platanus rakemosa, becomes a large tree and is found 

 abundantly in Southern California. The other, Platanus Wrightii, does not attain so great 

 a size but is found abundantly in the mountainous regions of Arizona and New Mexico. 



(185) 



