THE SYCAMORE. 



79 



outline it torms against the sky. This is, as it were, built up of 

 straight lines : a straight line across the trunk from point to point 

 of the lower bouiihs ; two straio-ht lines convert:inir from these ex- 

 treniities towards the summit of the tree ; another straight line giving 

 it a flat-topped appearance, and completing an irregular four-sided 

 figure. This should be compared to the semi-circular form oi an 

 oak, a conical hr or larch, or the broken outline of a beech. 



LEAF PATTERN AS SEEN FROM ABOVE. 



As the leaves are large and flat, and arranged horizontally in 

 groups, the shadow cast by the upper upon the under foliage is very 

 noticeable, and the Sycamore forms, in this respect, a complete contrast 

 to such a tree as the black poplar, where the leaves hang vertically 

 and grow singlv at some distance apart. 



