'14 THE SYCAMOBK. 



claim to be mentioned in connexion with any national 

 boast. It has even been denied the possession of any 

 picturesque beauty. Evelyn sa}*s of it, " The Sycamore 

 is much more in reputation for its shade than it deserves ; 

 for the honey-dew leaves, which fall early, like those of 

 the Ash, turn to mucilage and noxious insects, and putrefy 

 with the first moisture of the season ; and are therefore, by 

 my consent, to be banished from all curious gardens and 

 avenues." If the trees, however, " be very tall and hand- 

 some, they are the more tolerable for distant walks, 

 especially where other better trees prosper not so well, or 

 where a sudden shade is expected. Some commend them 

 to thicken copses, especially in parks, and that it is good 

 fire- wood." 



The name Acer, given to it by the Komans, is derived 

 from Acer, Acris, sharp or hard, on account of the hard- 

 ness of the wood, which was used for making spears and 

 other sharp-pointed instruments; or, as some are pleased 

 to say, from acre inyeniiim, a sharp irit, from its being 

 so much in use by most ingenious artificers in fine works. 

 Its specific name, Pseudo-PUitaniis, means Mock-Plane, 

 being given to it in consequence of the resemblance 

 borne by its leaves to those of the Plane-tree. The 

 name Sycamore was given to it by the older botanists, 

 who erroneously believed it to be identical with the 

 Sycamore, 1 or Mulberry-fig, of Palestine, which it some- 

 what resembles in the size and form of its leaves. 



No tree propagates itself more readily in this country, 

 as may be easily inferred from the great number of seed- 

 lings which are to be found springing spontaneously from 

 the ground in the vicinity of Sycamores which have begun 

 to bear seeds. In its earliest stage it is a puny herbaceous 

 plant, furnished with two, or sometimes more, narrow 

 smooth leaves, entire at the edges : these are the cotyle- 

 donous leaves. Shortly afterwards (for during the whole 



1 From syJcp., a fir, and moros, a mulberry, bein? said to resemble 

 the mulberry-tree in the leaf, and the fig in its fruit. 



