SYCAMORE 329 



the dying layer except at and near the base of mature 

 trees annually scales off, leaving the live bark without 

 such protection as is afforded by the dead bark of most trees. 

 This dying layer is at first white, but as the season advances 

 it generally turns to an olive-gray, and when it falls off in 

 patches, as it usually does in winter-time, it causes the tree 

 to look as though liberally splashed with whitewash. As 

 the tree approaches maturity, the dead bark adheres to the 

 stem from the ground upwards for some distance and forms 

 scales somewhat resembling those of the White Ash. The 

 adhering dead bark is of a gray color, making the tree show 

 a darkened base surmounted by a mottled or whitewashed 

 stem and branches. 



There is still another peculiarity in which it is almost 

 entirely alone. While buds are regularly formed, in late 

 summer, for a succeeding year's growth, none are visible 

 until the leaf stem separates from the branch. The base 

 of the leaf stem the petiole entirely covers the bud 

 formed for the next season with a cover much resembling 

 the old-fashioned conical candle extinguisher. 



It has an extended range, reaching from Maine and 

 southern Michigan to northern Florida and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and from the Atlantic Ocean to eastern Texas, 

 Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. (There is a species in 

 California, but it is of little economic value for timber.) It 

 flourishes best along streams and in moist fertile soil, where 

 it grows quite rapidly in early life and keeps up a fairly 

 thrifty condition for a long time, reaching an old age. It 

 will grow in somewhat dry soil, but seldom attains its larg- 

 est size there. Its best development is along the Ohio and 

 Mississippi rivers and their tributaries, especially the Wa- 

 bash and Miami, where it has been found one hundred and 

 fifty to one hundred and seventy-five feet high, with a dia- 

 meter of ten to eleven feet, with a tall, straight, and clean 

 stem, lessening but little in diameter as it nears the crown. 

 Many large trees once existed along the Susquehanna and 

 Delaware rivers. Old trees are liable to be hollow. Pro- 



