13. PLATANUS OCCIDEKTALIS SYCAMORE. 59 



13, PLATANUS OCCIDENTALIS, L. 



SYCAMORE, PLANE-TREE, BUTTONWOOD, BUTTON-BALL TREE. 



Ger., Amerikanische Platane; Fr., Platane Americain; Sp., Platano 



de America. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves large, usually truncate at the base, angulate-lobed 

 and commonly serrate-toothed, the lobes short and sharp-pointed; leaves and leaf- 

 stems tomentbse when young; stipules conspicuous, obliquely ovate; base of the 

 petiole concave, covering the axillary bud. Flowers appear usually in May; fertile 

 heads solitary, suspended on a long peduncle, and, persisting long after the leaves 

 have fallen, give the tree a characteristic appearance in winter. 



This is the largest (though not the tallest) deciduous tree of our 

 American forests, sometimes attaining the enormous proportions of 

 120 ft. (37 m.) in height, and 14 ft. (4.27 m.) or more in diameter of 

 trunk at base. The older bark of the trunk and large branches flakes 

 off in brittle, irregular scales, leaving the surface of a whitish or grayish 

 and more or less mottled color, especially in winter. Farther up, the 

 smaller branches are often remarkable for their smoothness and white- 

 ness, seeming quite as though white- washed. "This striking feature 

 in winter enables one to observe the course of a stream for a great dis- 

 tance by the line of Sycamores along its banks."* The branches are 

 greenish or brownish in color. 



HABITAT. Southern Canada, New England, and southward nearly 

 to the gulf coast, and westward to Kansas and Nebraska, reaching, per- 

 haps, its greatest development along the Ohio river and its tributaries. 

 It is partial to the river banks and localities where the soil is moist, often 

 growing in or very close to the rocky beds of small streams which dry 

 up in the summer season. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood heavy, rather hard and compact, 

 though not very strong, difficult to split and work; of a reddish-brown 

 color with light and somewhat yellowish sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 

 0.5678; Percentage of Ash, 0.46; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.5652; 

 Coefficient of Elasticity, 86402; Modulus of Rupture, 635; Resistance to 

 Longitudinal Pressure, 450; Resistance to Indentation, 165; Weight of a 

 Cubic Foot in Pounds, 35.39. 



USES. This timber, probably principally on account of the difficulty 

 of working it, is not of extensive use in manufacturing. It makes good 

 fuel when dry, and is used to some considerable extent in the manufac- 

 ture of fruit baskets, tobacco boxes, etc., and to some extent for cabinet- 

 ware. When cut with the "quarter" grain (in radial section), pieces of 

 this timber give a very pretty effect in wooden mosaics and cabinet work. 



* Elements of Forestry, by Franklin B. Hough, p. 252. 



