226 WCODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
accompanied by an additional pair of smaller stipules below. 
The buds are small and roundish. 
The barren aments are crowded towards the ends of the 
branches, in the axil of the sometimes persistent leaves of the 
last year. They are erect, about half an inch long, composed 
of brownish, hairy, pointed, kidney-shaped scales, closely in- 
vesting each other in spiral lines. 
The fertile aments are globular and bur-like, less than an 
inch in diameter, with a few ovate, smooth, shining, dark 
brown nuts, set among rough, narrow, awl-shaped, bristly 
scales. ’ 
The whole plant gives out a pleasant, spicy odor. This is 
stronger and somewhat different when the leaves are crushed. 
They are a common ingredient in diet drinks, and an infusion is 
a popular remedy for dysentery. 
Dr. Richardson found the sweet fern in New Brunswick and 
in Canada as far as the Saskatchawan. It occurs abundantly 
throughout the New England and Middle States, and on the 
mountains of Carolina and Georgia. 
FAMILY VII. THE PLANE TREE FAMILY. PLATANACEA. 
LINDLEY. 
The family of the plane trees comprehends some of the lofti- 
est and largest deciduous trees of the northern temperate zone. 
They are distinguished for their broad leaves, globular inflores- 
cence and fruit, and the absence of milk in leaves, fruit, wood 
and bark. In some parts of the old continent, they are valued 
for their timber, and have been, from ancient times, most highly 
esteemed for their shade. The leaf-buds are cnclosed in the 
leai-stalk, whence the planes are necessarily deciduous, the 
expansion of the buds forcing the previous leaves from their 
articulation. ‘The layers of bark have little mutual adherence, 
and are deficient in toughness and extensibility; the outer lay- 
ers are therefore liable to fall off in large irregular patches. 
The roots are long and running. By some writers the plane 
