HACKBERRY. SYCAMORE. 81 



rounded, purplish-red fruit, from i to 3 inch in diameter, is sweet 

 and edible. 



The wood is heavy, rather soft, nut strong-, coarse-grained, com- 

 pact, clear light yellow in color; the sapwood, lighter. It takes 

 a good polish, and is largely used for fencing, and occasionally in 

 the manufacture of cheap furniture. 



PJatanus occiden talis, Linna?us. 

 (sycamore, bfttoxwood.) 



A large tree, with deep brown smooth bark, scaling olf in thin, 

 brittle plates, leaving the tree a mottled polished white, or with 

 bark uniform and rough. It reaches a height of 130 and a diam- 

 eter of nearly 1-1 feet. 



It occurs in rich moist soil, generally near streams, from south- 

 ern Maine and the northern shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie 

 west to eastern Nebraska and Kansas, south to northern Florida, 

 central Alabama, Mississippi, and southern Texas ; reaching its 

 best tlevelopment in the bottom lands of the Ohio and Mississippi 

 rivers. It is a very common tree. 



In this State, where it reaches a height of 90 and a diameter of 

 5 or 6 feet, it occurs throughout, growing to its best size along the 

 alluvial swamps of the Piedmont plateau. It is least abundant 

 on the coastal plain. 



The sycamore bears fruit in abundance and usually every year, 

 and seedlings are common along streanis. Old trees are gener- 

 ally hollow at the butt. It sprouts very freely from the stump, 

 and is easily propagated from cuttings. The growth is very 

 rapid. 



The large broad leaves are angularly lobed and toothed, downy 

 when young, and sn)ooth at maturity. The male and female 

 flowers occur in separate small spherical heads with slender stems. 

 The fruit is a globular head one inch in diameter, hanging on the 

 tree through the winter. The short, broad, pyramidal buds are 

 formed beneath the swollen base of the leafstalks. The sycamore 

 has numerous long running roots. 



The wood is heavy, hard, not strong, very close-grained, com- 

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