THE SYCAMORE. 45 



of its existence it is a rapid grower), a few pointed and 

 notched leaves, tinged with pink, are produced in the 

 centre of these ; and as the nursling increases in size, others 

 appear, having the five-pointed, unequally notched lobes 

 which characterise the matured foliage of the tree. At 

 the end of a year it will have attained, under favourable 

 circumstances, the height of eighteen inches. As a sapling 

 it is remarkable for its straight growth, smooth purplish- 

 brown bark, and large leaf-buds. In this stage of its 

 growth it is a great favourite with schoolboys, who, in 

 the sp"Hng, when the sap begins to rise, slip off a cylinder 

 of bark, and by removing a portion of the pith and wood, 

 manufacture the shrill and unmusical instrument, a whistle. 

 It produces flowers before it is twenty years old, but does 

 not generally perfect its seeds until it has attained at least 

 that age. In fifty or sixty years it reaches its full growth, 

 and in the course of thirty or forty years more thoroughly 

 ripens its wood. 



The leaves of the Sycamore in autumn are frequently 

 observed to be covered with dark-coloured spots. This 

 appearance is produced by numerous blackish fungi 

 (Xijluma acertnum), which, as soon as the first sharp frost 

 has scattered the leaves on the ground, commence their 

 office of converting the now useless vegetable substance 

 into rich mould. At all periods of its growth its leaves 

 are liable to be covered with a viscid substance, termed 

 honey -dew, the origin of which has by eome been attiibuted 

 to insects, by others to the plant itself. 1 



In May, before the leaves are thoroughly expanded, the 

 Sycamore puts forth its elegant drooping clusters of green 

 flowers, when the bee may be observed climbing about, 

 and closely peering into every opening bud. This insect 

 is much' indebted to the Sycamore, since its flowers, which 



1 TThpn this honey-dew is very ahundant, it is liable to drop on 

 nny shrub heneath (such as box, holly, &c.), and to turn their 

 leaves black. The branches of such shrubs have been observed to 

 be much infested with lichens. 



