THE SYCAMORES 



147 



even more open in proclaiming this fact than any other 

 forest tree. 



The most striking distinguishing characteristic of our 

 common sycamore is its thin, smooth, whitish or pale 

 green bark on young trunks, which resembles a crazy 

 patchwork of white, green, yellow, and brown. In winter 

 white is the predominant color, while in summer there is 

 a tendency towards green and brown. In summer the 

 bark is not so conspicuous, because the white color of 

 winter seems to be replaced by a greenish to brown color, 

 and then, too, the bark is hidden by the heavy leaf-canopy 

 that is usually present upon the trees. 



The leaves are simple, usually heart-shaped at the base, 

 and wavy on the margin. They are from 3 to 7-lobed, 

 and hairy or wooly on the lower surface. The most dis- 

 tinctive feature of the leaf is the enlarged or swollen 

 base of the leaf-stalk. In late summer, just before the 

 leaves begin to fall, one of the delights of the country 

 boy is to ask his playmates to find buds of the sycamore 

 tree. They all walk together to a nearby stream, and then 

 begin to examine the twigs for buds. After a short ex- 

 amination of the twigs, they conclude that nature has 

 made no provisions for next year's growth, and no buds 

 are to be found. A little bit of patience, and somewhat 

 closer examination of the twigs, will reveal, however. 



.^X UXF.'MLIXG DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC 



The bud of the Sycamore is hidden under the swollen base of 

 the leaf-stock. The twigs are hairy and surrounded by the large 

 leaf-appendages. 



A PLANTED SYCAMORE 



It was raised from seed and is making an annual height growth 

 of almost three feet. 



that the sycamore does have buds, but that they are hid- 

 den completely under the enlarged stalks of the leaves. It 

 seems as if nature has provided a protective cover for 

 the tender buds until they are fit to withstand the cold 

 of late autumn and early winter. As soon as the buds 

 have hardened up, the leaves fall off, for the buds are 

 then ready to be exposed to the cold. Because of this 

 unusual condition, the bud of the sycamore is often de- 

 scribed as sub-pctiolar bud, which word means "under 

 the petiole". The word "petiole" is nothing more than 

 another name for leaf-stalk. It follows, therefore, that 

 the term siib-petiolar bud means "buds that occur under 

 the leaf-stalk". If one will keep in mind this unusual 

 characteristic, it will be possible to identify the sycamore 

 very easily during autumn and the winter months. 



Another striking characteristic is the fruit. It occurs 

 in small balls suspended on slender stalks. The balls 

 of fruit are about one inch in diameter and are composed 

 of slender seed-like bodies, densely packed together in a 

 spherical mass. One ball contains thousands of seeds 

 which are made iip in a unique way and are well adapted 

 to be scattered about by the wind. One end of each 

 seed is attached to a .central marble-like bodyi from which 



