36 
BUTTONWOOD OR SYCAMORE. 
ones grow to the diameter of an ineh, and are supported by peduncles 2 
or 3 inches long. These balls fall in the course of the autumn and winter, 
and, parting asunder, the seeds which compose them are scattered in the 
wind, by means of the plumy tuft by which they are surmounted. 
The trunk and branches of the Buttonwood are covered with a smooth, 
pale green bark, of which the epidermis detaches itself every year in por- 
tions : a sufficiently obvious character is thus afforded, by which to distin- 
guish the tree when bared of its leaves. , The roots when taken from the 
earth are of a beautiful red color ; but they lose this tint upon being split 
and exposed to the light in a dry place. The concentric layers and the 
medullary rays are also observed to be much more distinct in the roots 
than in the body of the tree. In clearing new lands it is sometimes difficult 
to eradicate the Buttonwood : the stumps, during a long time, give birth 
to fresh shoots, but when once dead they speedily decay. 
The Buttonwood, in seasoning, becomes of a dull red: its grain is fine 
and close, and it is susceptible of a brighter polish than the wood of the 
Beech, to which it bears spme resemblance. Its concentric cicles are divi- 
ded into numerous sections, by fine medullary rays extending from the cen- 
tre to the circumference. When the trunk is sawn in a direction parallel, 
to these rays, they appear larger than when it is cut parallel to the concen- 
tric circles. It would' seem, then, that the division should be made in an 
intermediate direction, so that the spots may be of a proper size and at 
equal distances, which gives an elegant surface to the wood. 
Cabinet-makers, at Philadelphia, rarely make use of the Buttonwood : 
they attribute to it the defect of easily warping, which does not belong to 
the Wild Cherry and to the Black Walnut. As these species of wood are 
also harder and of a more durable polish, the Buttonwood is little used ex- 
cept for bedsteads, which retain the color of the: wood and are coated with 
varnish. 
The Buttonwood speedily decays when exposed to the atmosphere, 
hence it is proper only for work that is sheltered from the weather ; when 
thoroughly seasoned, it may be usefully employed in the interior of houses 
for joists, and for sheathing the frame. It never enters into the construc- 
tion of vessels. The French of Illiiiois and of Post Vincennes, on the river 
Wabish, sometimes fashion it into canoes, one of which, made a few years 
since on this river, of a single Buttonwood, was 65 feet long, and carried 
9,000 pounds. 
It is difficult to mark the difference between the two species of Plane in 
the color and organization of their wuod. If the excellencies which were 
ascribed by the ancients to the wood of the Plane are not recognised in 
that of the Buttonwood, it is perhaps owing to the grèat variety of timber 
proper for building, which is furnished by the soil of the United States, 
