THE CALIFORNIA SYCAMORE 



Platanus racemosa NUTT. 



Wherever a little dampness occurs 

 along the lower stream borders and 

 bowlder strewn washes the Sycamores 

 plant their roots and prove their aesthe- 

 tic value as ornamentors of canyon land- 

 scapes. Here they grow, as Audubon 

 notes in his Journal, "with their giant 

 limbs extending laterally" and crowned 

 with graceful sprays of rich, green sun- 

 loving leaves, adding a charm to the 

 countryside such as no other tree of 

 Dame Nature's family can do. These 

 beautiful divergent forms are due to the 

 shifting nature of the soil in the stream 

 beds. 



Have you ever wandered alone in the 

 rich, new, warm sunshine of spring at 

 that "winsome hour of the year," to use 

 Maeterlinck's expression," when flow- 

 ers keep holiday," and enhaled the 

 sweet aroma of the bronzed and bursting 



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