of New York 



89 



BUTTONWOOD 



Platamxs occidentalis, Linnaeus 



THE BUTTONWOOD, also called Buttonball, Sycamore, and 

 Plane Tree, is one of the largest trees of New York. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, broadly ovate, 3 to 5- 

 lobed, 4 to 10 inches across, bright green above, pale green 

 and white wooly below. The leaf-stalks are about 2 inches 

 long, enlarged and hol- 

 lowed at base. 



The flowers are of 

 two kinds, occur in 

 dense ball-like heads, at- 

 tached to twigs by long 

 slender stalks. 



The fruit consists of 

 tiny seeds, arranged in 

 ball-like heads about 1 

 inch in diameter, at- 

 tached to twigs by long 

 slender stalks. 



The bark on old 

 trunks is rather thick, -tfjrr 

 dark-brown, peels off in W 4 

 broad scales. On young 

 stems and the upper part 

 of larger trunks it peels 

 off in thin scales, expos- 

 ing white, greenish and 

 yellowish inner bark. 

 The twigs are rather 

 stout, at first green and 

 fuzzy, later grayish to 

 brown and smooth. The 

 buds are about Ya, of 

 an inch long, conical, dull-pointed, smooth, reddish- brown. 

 Terminal bud is absent. 



The wood is hard, strong, reddish-brown. It is used for 

 boxes, furniture, novelties, charcoal, chemicals. 



The Buttonwood is native from Maine to Minnesota and 

 south to Florida and Texas. Moist to wet fertile soil are 

 its favorite home. In New York this tree is found from 

 Lake Champlain and Lake George westward to the St. Law- 

 rence, becoming more abundant southward and westward. 

 It is rare on Long Island and Staten Island and absent in 

 the Adirondacks above 1,000 feet. The Oriental Plane Tree, 

 a close relative of our Buttonwood, has been planted locally 

 in New York for ornamental purposes. 



BUTTONWOOD 



One-fourth natural size. 

 Flowers and twig sections, enlarged. 



