SYCAMORE FAMILY 113 
45. PLATANACER. Sycamore Famiry 
Trees, with simple, alternate, petioled leaves, with stipules ; 
the bases of the petioles covering the buds. Flowers monc- 
cious, in axillary, long-peduneled, globose heads. Calyx and 
corolla very inconspicuous, each consisting of 3-8 minute 
scales, or wanting. Stamens as many as the sepals and oppo- 
site them. Pistils several, inversely conical, hairy at the base; 
styles long. Capsules 1-seeded.* 
PLATANOS L. 
Characters of the family. 
1. P. occidentalis L. Sycamore, Buttonwoop. <A large tree, 
bark light-colored. smooth, peeling off in large, thin plates. Leaves 
large, round-heart-shaped, angularly lobed and toothed, densely 
white-woolly when young, becoming smooth with age; stipules 
large, toothed. Fruit in a globular, drooping head, which remains 
on the tree through the winter, dropping the seeds very slowly. 
Common on river banks and in swampy woods. 
> 
46. ROSACEZ. Rose Famiry 
Herbs, shrubs, or trees. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, 
simple or compound, with stipules. Calyx 5-lobed. Petals 5, 
rarely wanting, inserted with the stamens on the edge of a disk 
that lines the calyx tube. Stamens many, rarely 1 or few. 
Carpels 1 or more, distinct or united, superior or inferior. 
Fruit a pome, a drupe or group of drupes, or 1-several akenes 
or follicles, rarely a berry or capsule. The relation of the 
parts of the flower to each other and to the receptacle is shown 
in Fig. 19. 
A 
Ripe carpels not inclosed within the calyx tube. 
1. Fruit dry. 
(a) Carpels 1-5, inflated. Physocarpus, I 
(b) Pods 5-8, not inflated, 2-several-seeded. Spirea, II 
