PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
307 
The wood of the Sycamore is useful for turning and a few 
other purposes, but is not very durable. The sap, as in all the 
Maples, is full of sugar, and the pollen is very curious; “it 
appears globular in the microscope, but if it be touched with 
anything moist, the globules burst open with four valves, and 
then they appear in the form of a cross.” —Miller. 
