Families Platanaceæ, Cornaceæ, and Moracæ
There is but one genus in the family Platanaceæ, and but one species in the genus found growing in the Northeastern States, the buttonwood, or sycamore.
Buttonwood, Sycamore, or Plane Tree Platanus occidentalis
A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high, with an irregular, picturesque outline. The bark breaks off in thin, brittle plates at the base of the trunk, and higher up it is smooth, an olive green color, and covered with white blotches. The buds are subpetiolar,—that is, they are covered over by the base of the leafstalk through the summer, and concealed entirely until the leaf drops off. The leaf-scar is in the shape of a ring around the bud, with prominent bundle-scars; the arrangement of the leaf-scars is alternate. Stipule scars are found on the stems in some places. The buds are conical, smooth, and brown, and are covered by one scale. The fruit hangs on the tree all winter,—a large, dry ball made up of hundreds of seeds.
Like everything which has a definite individuality, the buttonwood is a tree which people either like or dislike strongly. It is certainly picturesque, and its subpetiolar buds alone make it unusually interesting, whether one admires it or not from an æsthetic point of view. These buds are entirely concealed through the summer by the hollow bases of the leafstalks which fit over the buds like candle extinguishers, and leave scars in circles after they have fallen.
Its bark has little expansive power, the tissue is rigid and cannot stretch with the growing power from within, and it splits and is thrown off easily. In connection with this, Dr. Holmes says in “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table”:—
BUTTONWOOD
Platanus occidentalis
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