PLANE TREE FAMILY 



is too severely handicapped to compete successfully in the 

 struggle for life. 



In old age the tree is picturesque rather than beau- 

 tiful. The stiff branches strike out from the huge trunk 

 irregularly and wander away without law or order. The 

 branchlets likewise are arranged on a plan of hit or miss. 

 But, when the leaves are out, this scrambling lawless arrange- 

 ment is seen to have its good points, no leaf unduly shades 

 another and the foliage effect is light and airy. 



The Sycamore is able to triumph over the hard conditions 

 of city life and is extensively planted as a shade tree. It 

 bears transplanting well and grows rapidly. 



A Sycamore, probably our present Sycamore, made up a 

 large part of the forests of Greenland and arctic America 

 during the cretaceous and tertiary periods. It once grew 

 abundantly in central Europe whence it has now disappeared. 

 Evidently there is something in present conditions inimical 

 to its development. 



268 



