Sycamare, 
Platanus occidentalis, Narurat Orver: Platanacee—Plane-Tree Family. 
NE of the largest trees in American forests is the Sycamore 
It is 
found most frequently on the banks of some of the large western 
or Buttonwood tree, which grows to a prodigious size. 
rivers and on the margins of many of the smaller streams, where 
‘ win the trunk attains a not unusual circumference of fifty feet. 
oy S Along the entire course of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, 
~ extensive forests of it abound, and no sooner does a bar of sand or an 
c) island make itself seen above the surface of the fickle tide, than it is 
covered as if by magic with a growth of Sycamore saplings that in a 
few years develop into mighty trees. Its rapid growth is its chief 
recommendation, as its wood is soft and of no great utility. Its ample 
) foliage makes a very desirable shade, and it thrives under circumstances 
to which many other trees succumb. 
Goodland Beauty. 
YCAMORE with eglantine was spread, 
A hedge about the sides, a covering overhead. 
—Dryden. 
KNOW a forest vast and old — I know a brake where sleeps the fawn, 
A shade so deep, so darkly green, 
That morning sends her shaft of gold 
In vain to pierce its leafy screen: 
OISELESSLY around, 
From perch to perch, the solitary bird 
Passes; and yon clear spring that, midst its herbs, 
Wells softly forth and wandering steeps the roots 
Of half the mighty forest, tells no tale , 
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The soft-eyed fawn, thro’ noon’s repose: 
For noon with all the calm of dawn 
Lies hushed beneath those dewy boughs. 
--Edith May. 
HE rich, deep masses of the sycamore 
Hang heavy with the fullness of their prime. 
—Hemans. 
Of all the good it does. Thou hast not left 
Thyself without a witness, in these shades, 
Of thy perfections. Grandeur, strength and grace 
«Are here to speak of thee. 
—William Cullen Bryant. 
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