Handbook of Trkks of tiik XoirniERN States and Can. 



229 



I' larfjost 

 1 forests, 

 vcr Ohio 

 s to tlio 

 liundnMl 



ilus stately tree is coiisuier^d V. 

 (Icfidiioiis trtH' of till' Xortli Aincric;i 

 In the rieli huttoiii-Iaii(h .if llic In 

 and tlie .Missisdppi valh'vs it h.wc 

 licight of one hundred and fifty to on 

 and seventy-five ft. and its lniid< is some- 

 times ten or eleven ft. in diameter ahovo its 

 tapering base. Tiie trunk eommonly divides 

 into two or three large secondary trunks, whieli 

 raise its irregular or rounded head far above 

 the tops of most of the neighboring trees; or 

 it may have a single columnar trunk of great 

 height but often cuived or leaning. 



A striking feature is the Avliitc bark of iis 

 branches, and as its favorite abode is t'le 

 banks of streams their winding courses may 

 be traced from an eminence by the white 

 branches of the Sycamores which line their 

 banks. Quite as interesting as the bark of 

 these whitewashed branches is that of the 

 young trunks and the bases of large limbs, as 

 it is pied of many colors, as shown in our 

 picture, acctn-ding to the varying length of 

 time the scales of outer bark have been off. 



The wood, of which a cubic foot weighs 30.40 

 lbs., is tough, strong, and very dilRcult to 

 split, and is used in the manufacture of boxes, 

 crates, butchers' blocks, etc., and when cut 

 quartering makes a handsome lumber for in- 

 terior finishing', furniture, etc.i 



Leaves wide-orbicular in 

 lobed, with mostlj- broad sii 

 lobes and wide sinuses ; stii 

 1 to H/i in. long. FUttn 

 nsTiallv bearins; one but 



yuil : heads from 1-1 H ii 

 litary on glal).-ous stem 

 iincate or rounded at apex 



A. \V., 



For ge 



see p. 43T 



