366 OUR WOODLAND TREES, 
and indeed the name Sycamore, still retained, was 
originally given to it under the same belief. The 
Tree, however, of the Bible was the Mulberry Fig 
of Palestine (Ficus sycomorus), a Tree wholly 
different—except in the general shape of its leaves 
—from Acer pseudo-platanus. 
Notwithstanding what has been said in dis- 
paragement of our English Sycamore, the Tree 
possesses many valuable and beautiful qualities. 
It grows very rapidly, perfecting its seeds in 
twenty years from the time of commencing its 
growth. When full-grown—at fifty or sixty years 
of age, it reaches a height of sometimes eighty feet, 
though this height is rather exceptional than 
common. Its term of life seldom reaches beyond 
a century and a half, or two centuries, though it 
has been known to live much longer than two 
hundred years. The soil to promote its most 
rapid growth must be rich—not too moist—and 
porous, or what is called ‘free,’ that is to say, 
unclogged by too great an intermixture of clay, 
though it is so hardy and bold a grower, that it 
will thrive in almost any soil; and it will often 
be seen growing in all kinds of unexpected places 
