OCTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Acer 
475 
Var. 2. Leaves glaucous underneath; serratures very distant. 
Observed by A. Caldwell, Esq., of Dublin. (Has no pretension to be con¬ 
sidered a distinct species, as suspected in E. Bot. p. 303. E.) 
A. campes'tre. Leaves five-lobed, obtuse: the lower lobes notched : 
corymbus with three divisions, upright. 
Nature takes forthe preservation of her infant germs. In the seed (soaked in warm water) 
we shall find the radicle and long radicle leaves of the future plant folded up in an ex¬ 
traordinary manner, with the minute leaves that are to succeed them folded in their bosom ; 
these radicle leaves are beautifully green, a circumstance not to be expected, as all light is 
excluded by three coatings and a woolly wrapper that invest them. The bounty and wisdom 
of Providence in nothing is more remarkably manifest than in the intelligence displayed, 
and the provision appointed, for the young of organized and inanimate nature. The egg 
of a bird or insect, or the seed of a plant, should alone humble to the dust the arrogance of 
man.” Nat. Diary. T.T. 1824. The Sycamore would appear to have been originally an 
exotic, gradually introduced into Eritain for ornament and shade. Turner and Evelyn 
deny its being indigenous, and Parkinson in 1640 says, “ It is no where found wilde or 
naturall in our land that I can learne, but only planted in orchards or walkes for the 
shadowes sake.” It was little known in England so late as the seventeenth century. 
Chaucer speaks of it as a rare exotic in the fourteenth century; and Gerard in 1597, as 
“ a stranger in England, which groweth only in the walkes and places of pleasure of noble¬ 
men.” It makes a beautiful appearance in bloom, (in May) and affords much pabulum for 
bees, smelling strongly of honey. Gilpin observes, “ It forms an impenetrable shade, and 
often receives well-contrasted masses of light. Its bark has not the furrowed roughness of 
the oak ; but it has a species of roughness very picturesque. In itself, it is smooth; but it 
peels off in large flakes like the planes, (to which in other respects it bears a near alliance), 
leaving patches of different hues, seams, and cracks, which are often picturesque.” It is 
highly ornamental in rural scenery, in spring, by the delicate green of its luxuriant foliage, 
and in autumn, when 
“ No tree of all the grove but has its charms, 
Though each its hue peculiar; 
****** 
* * * * * nor unnoted pass 
The Sycamore , capricious in attire, 
Now green, now tawny, and ere Autumn yet 
Have changed the woods, in scarlet honours bright.” 
This tree has been supposed the same as that repeatedly mentioned by a like designation 
both in the Old and New Testament; and in proof of the considerable age to which it will at¬ 
tain, has been cited the testimony of St. Hierom, who lived in the fourth century after Christ, 
namely, that he saw the Sycamore tree which Zaccheus ascended to behold our Saviour 
enter Jerusalem, or, rather, to speak more correctly, on his passage through Jericho towards 
Jerusalem. But this is obviously an error, for the tree so denominated in holy writ, 
and in the present instance that from which the rich chief of the publicans paid ho¬ 
mage to the Lord of Glory, full of power and grace, and scattering blessings around him, 
(Luke xix) was, we have no hesitation in asserting, Ficus Sycomorus. Linn. Folio mori, 
fructum in caudlicefevens , Bauh. Pin. 45 y, of frequent occurrence in Egypt and other eastern 
countries, the leaves of which, as above described, resemble those of the mulberry tree, and 
the fruit that of the wild fig; whence the compound name from sycos , a fig, and moms , a 
mulberry-tree. It is well represented as the Giomez in Norden’s Egypt, PI. xxxviii. 
Among the larger specimens of British growth Strutt describes one at Cobham Park, which 
measures twenty six feet in circumference at the ground, and ninety four feet in height; 
also one at Bishopton, Renfrewshire, twenty feet in girth, and sixty feet in height. To 
secure varieties, (the principal of which is the striped) for pleasure grounds, budding, graft¬ 
ing, and inarching are practised: and it may be here observed that variegated plants in ge¬ 
neral should be planted in poor hungry soil, to encourage the disease which occasions these 
beautiful stripes, thus causing them to become more distinct. But these fancy trees, 
when confirmed, show their peculiarities to more advantage in a good soil. E.) 
