CHAPTER XXXIV: THE SYCAMORES 



Family Platanace.^ 



Genus PLATAN US, Linn. 



Large, ornamental, deciduous trees with smooth limbs 

 from which whitish bark peels in irregular flakes. Leaves simple, 

 alternate, palmately lobed. Flowers moncecious in pendant 

 heads. Fruits swinging, many-seeded balls, hanging all winter. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



A. Fruits solitary, rarely 2; leaves with shallow sinuses, 

 broader than long; seeds blunt. 



(P. occidentalis) sycamore 

 AA. Fruits 4 to 6 on each stem; seeds pointed, 



B. Leaves with triangular lobes and deep sinuses. 



(P. racemosa) California sycamore 

 BB. Leaves with variable lobes, often fmger-like and 8 to 

 10 inches long. (P. IVrightii) Arizona sycamore 

 AAA. Fruits 2 to 4 on each stem; seeds pointed; leaves deeply 

 lobed, broader than long. (Exotic.) 



(P. orientalis) oriental plane 



There are six species of the genus Platanus found in the 

 Northern Hemisphere, and equally divided between the Old and 

 New Worlds. The geologist finds evidences of much wider 

 distribution for our sycamore than it now enjoys. The Arctic 

 regions from Greenland west bore forests of these trees, and so 

 did central Europe before the Glacial Epoch. The plane tree of 

 Europe extends east to India. 



The trees are all characterised by brittle, smooth bark of 

 light colour, except on old trunks. The flaking off of this bark 

 in irregular plates, leaving the white under layer exposed, enables 

 the most casual observer to recognise the trees of this family by 

 sight. The broad leaves, lobed Hke a maple's, and the hanging 

 seed balls are striking characteristics. 



278 



