PLANE TREE FAMILY 



of the wood underneath and the tree is therefore obliged to 

 slough it off. 



A second peculiarity is the way the leaves protect the 

 growing buds. Examine a branch of almost any tree in early 

 August and nestled in the axils of the 

 leaves you will find the tiny forming 

 buds which will produce the leaves of 

 the coming year. The Sycamore branch 

 apparently has no such buds. Are there 

 then to be no more leaves on Sycamores 

 in coming years ? The conclusion is 

 hasty. Observe the sudden enlarge- 

 ment of the petiole, pull it from the 

 branch, and there inclosed in a little 

 tight-fitting case made of the base of 

 the petiole is the bud. 



The great merit of the Sycamore is 

 its vigor and luxuriance of growth ; al- 

 though at present the trees are greatly 

 threatened by a fungus which attacks 

 and destroys the first leaves and grow- 

 ing shoots. This fungus was first dis- 

 covered in Germany more than twenty 

 years ago, but its occurrence in the 

 United States was only recently recog- 

 nized by botanists. The disease makes 

 its appearance soon after the leaves 

 have expanded, appearing in the form 

 of small black spots which lie close to 

 the veins. As a result the half grown 

 leaves turn brown, shrivel, and fall. It 

 is very common in early June to see 

 these trees putting forth their second crop of leaves while 

 the first hang brown, dead, and unsightly on the ends of 

 the branches. No efficient remedy has as yet been applied 

 and if none develops the Sycamore is practically out of the 

 race, for a tree which does not really get its leaves until July 



266 



Fruit of the Sycamore, 

 Platanus occidentalis. 



