66 THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF fVOOD. 



Sycamore. ) 



Buttonwood. V Platanus occidentalis Linn. 



Buttonball-tree. J 



Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) 



Sycamore, Buttonwood, But- Plane Tree (R. I., Del., S. C, 



tonball Tree (local and Kans., Nebr., la.), 



common names). Water Beech (Del.). 



Buttonball (R. I., N. Y., Pa., Platane cotonier, Bois puant 



Fla.). (La.). 



Locality. 



Maine to Florida, westward intermittently to Nebraska and 

 Texas. Best in bottom lands of Ohio and Mississippi River 

 basins. 



Features of Tree. 



Ninety to over one hundred feet in height, six to sometimes 

 twelve feet in diameter. Inner bark exposed in white patches. 

 Large rough balls or fruit. ; 



Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. 



Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood lighter, close-grained, 

 compact structures, satiny conspicuous medullary rays. 

 Attractive when quartered. 



Structural Qualities of Wood. 



Heavy, hard, difficult to work, not strong, stands well when not 

 exposed. 



Representative Uses of Wood. 



Tobacco-boxes, ox-yokes, butcher-blocks, cabinet-work. 



Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 



35- 

 Modulus of Elasticity. 



1,220,000. 

 Modulus of Rupture. 



9000. 



Remarks. 



Some specimens rank among the largest of American deciduous 

 trees. These are usually hollow. The remarkably rigid bark 

 does not stretch to accommodate the growth and is thus dis- 

 carded to an unusual degree. 



