buttons has given rise to another common term for the tree, that of "Button- 

 wood." 



AMERICAN SYCAMORE 



In a contest inaugurated by the American Genetic Association of Wash- 

 ington, D. C., for the location of the largest nonnut-bearing hardwood in 

 the United States, it was found that an American sycamore (Platanus occi- 

 dentalis) was the largest tree submitted. A tree near Worthington, Indiana, 

 was found to be 150 feet high with a spread of 100 feet and a trunk circum- 

 ference of over forty-five feet at one foot above the ground. 



There are a number of historic sycamores in Massachusetts, notably 

 those at Charlemont and Deerfield. It was under the sycamore at Charlemont 

 that the first pioneer settler of the township slept when he went there in 1741 . 

 He afterwards was killed by the Indians near this tree and it still stands as a 

 monument to his memory. The Deerfield sycamore, which is now 100 feet in 

 height, stands within what was once the enclosure of a fort built in 1689. 

 Near it stands the Stebbins house, where, in 1703, "seven men, besides women 

 and children, held two hundred soldiers and one hundred and forty Indians 

 at bay (under a French officer of the line) for three hours." (From James 

 Raymond Simmons' "The Historic Trees of Massachusetts.") 



The American sycamore grows naturally along streams and lakes on rich 

 soil. It is confined to the eastern and southern part of the United States. A 

 close relative is a western species (Platanus racemosa), a picturesque tree of 

 irregular growth that frequents the stream courses of the interior valleys and 

 coast ranges. 



The native sycamores are planted for shade and ornamental purposes 

 but it has been found that they are inferior to the London plane in symmetry 

 and are more subject to fungous diseases which disfigure the trees. 



i 



LONDON PLANE 



The London plane (Platanus acerifolia) has for years been known and 

 sold as the Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis) and is still so listed in many 

 nursery catalogs. According to Dr. Augustine Henry the tree is the result of 

 a natural cross between the American sycamore and Oriental plane which 

 grew in Kew Gardens, London, and which still attracts the attention of 



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