PLATANACEAE 
Sycamore. Button-wood. Buttonball-tree 
Platanus occidentalis L,. 
HABIT.—A large tree 70-100 feet high, with a trunk diam- 
eter of 3-8 feet; commonly dividing near the ground into several 
large secondary trunks, forming a broad, open, irregular crown 
of massive, spreading branches. 
LEAVES,—Alternate, simple, 5-10 inches long and broad; 
broadly ovate in outline; more or less 3-5-lobed by broad, shal- 
low sinuses, the lobes sinuate-toothed; thin and firm; bright 
green above, paler beneath, glabrous both sides; petioles stout, 
puberulous, 1-2 inches long. 
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; borne in 
dense heads; the staminate dark red, on short, axillary peduncles; 
the pistillate greenish, on long, slender, terminal peduncles; 
sepals 3-6, minute; petals 3-6, minute; stamens 3-6, usually 4; 
styles long, incurved, red. 
FRUIT.—October, persistent on the limbs through the 
winter; brown heads about 1 inch in diameter, on slender, glab- 
rows stems 3-6 inches long. : 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 14-3 
inch long, conical, blunt, lustrous, pale brown; forming in sum- 
mer within the petiole of the leaf. 
BARK.—Twigs pale green and tomentose, becoming smooth, 
dark green, finally grayish; thick, red-brown on the trunk and 
broken into oblong, plate-like scales, separating higher up into 
thin plates which peel off, exposing the greenish or yellowish 
inner bark. 
WOOD.—Heavy, tough, hard, rather weak, coarse-grained, 
difficult to split, light red-brown, with thick, darker colored sap- 
wood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Lower Peninsula as far north as Ros- 
common County. 
HABITAT.—Prefers rich bottom-lands along the borders of 
rivers and lakes. 
NOTES.—Rapid of growth. Bears transplanting well. 
Often planted as a shade tree. Fungous diseases disfigure it 
seriously. 
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