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Cornell Junior Extension Bulletin 26 



38. SYCAMORE 

 Buttonwood, Buttonball, Plane Tree 

 i /'I a I amis occidentalis Linnaeus) 

 Sycamore is a large-sized forest tree common throughout the Stale ex- 

 cept in the Adirondaeks and the higher Catskills and on Long Island. 

 Wherever the soil is moist and fertile, along streams, in river bottoms, 



in low, dam]) woods, and occa- 

 sionally in dryer places it is 

 likely to be found. Its "wood 

 is heavy, tough, hard, not 

 strong, coarse-grained, red- 

 dish brown in color, and is 

 difficult to split or work. It 

 is used for crates, tobacco 

 boxes, butchers' blocks, nov- 

 elties, and occasionally for 

 furniture and for interior 

 woodwork. 



Bark — dark brown in color 

 at base of older trunks, shal- 

 iowly furrowed into broad 

 ridges which are broken up into small plate-like scales; higher up on 

 trunk and branches, peeling off in large, thin plates exposing areas 

 of whitish, yellowish, or greenish inner bark which are very striking in 

 winter. 



Twigs — rather stout, somewhat shiny, zigzag, at first green in color 

 and fuzzy, later grayish or brownish in color and smooth. 



Winter buds — terminal bud absent; lateral buds conical, dull-pointed, 

 smooth, reddish brown in color, y± inch long, only one scale visible 

 forming a cap over the bud. 



Leaves — alternate, simple, broad, from 4 to 10 inches across, from 3 to 

 5 shallow lobes, thin, firm, smooth, bright green in color above, pale 

 green and white woolly below. 



Fruit — a ball, brown in color, about 1 inch in diameter, borne on a 

 long stem, made up of tiny seeds. Seeds — each furnished with a long 

 tuft of hairs; seed balls seldom break up before spring. 



SYCAMORE 



Leaf, one-third natural size ; twig, one-half 

 natural size ; fruit, one-half natural size 



