8 « ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
XI I I . r iCEUA'cEÆ; r i 'cER. 87
II
glaucous beneath, and in the fruit being much more divergent. Bark o f the
trunk white. Leaves 3 in. to 5 in. in length, generally wider than long. The
buds have a fine ruddy tint, especially in spring before they expand. The tree
in England is rather tender, and never attains a large size ; but in America the
timber is valuable, and the sap produces sugar. American seeds.
' ¥ 8. ri. P s e u 'd o -F l a 't a n u s L. The Mock Plane Tree, ihe Sycamore, or
Great Maple.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1469. i Do n ’s Mill., 1. p. 648.
Synonymes. Plane T re e , Scotch ; E 'ra lile Sycamore, E ’rable blanc de Montagne, fausse Pia tane,
grand E 'ra b le, Fr. ; Ehrenbaum, wcisser Ahorn, gemeine Ahorn, Ger. ; .Acero Fico, Hai.
Engravings. Duh. Arb., 1. t. 36. ; Schmidt A rb ., 1. p. 34. ; th e plate of this species m Arb. B n t.,
1st edit., v o l.v . ; our fig. 132. ; and fig . 153. of th e leaves, of the n atura l size, in th e plate forming
p . 110, 111.
Spec. Char., «f-c. Leaves cordate, smooth, with 5 acuminated, unequally
toothed lobes. Racemes pendulous, rather compound ; with the rachis, as
well as the filaments of stamens, hairy. F’ruit smooth, with the wings
rather diverging. (Don’s M ill ) A deciduous tree o f the first rank.
Europe and Britain, in wooded mountainous situations. Height 30 ft.
to 80 ft. Flowers greenish yellow, mostly hermaphrodite ; May and June.
Keys reddish brown ; ri|)e in October. Decaying leaves brown, with dark
blotches. Naked young wood reddish brown. Buds
large, green, or tinged with red.
Varieties.
¥ A. P. 2 opulifòlia. A. opulifòlium Hort. ; A.
trilobàtum Hort. ; A. barbàtum Hort. (O u r
fig. 1 3 2 .)— Leaves and fruit smaller than
in the species, as shown in fig. ] 55. of the
leaves, in the plate forming p. 114. We have
no doubt of this being the ri. opulifòlium
o f Thuillier and Villars, L’E 'rable duret,and
L’E'rable ayart, Fr., which is said by these
authors to resemble ri. Pseùdo-Plàtanus, but
to be much smaller. I t is a native of the
Alps and Pyrenees. Introduced in 1812.
Height 15 ft. to 20 ft.
¥ A. P.Slongif olia. A.XongìfòVmmBooth.—Leaves
more deeply cut, and the petioles much
131. ri. P . opulifòlium.
longer than in the species. Altogether a tree of very remarkable
aspect.
¥ A. P . 4 fitivo variegata. — ri. P . lutéscens Hort. ; the Corstorphine
Plane. — Leaves variegated with yellow. The original tree stands
near an old pigeon-house in the grounds of Sir Thomas Dick
Lauder, Bart., in the parish of Corstorphine, near Edinburgh. Seeds
o f this variety, sown, have produced plants with the character o f the
parent to a certain extent.
¥ A. P . 5 albo vanegàta Hayne.—Of all the variegated varieties o f A'cer,
it must be acknowledged that this is the most ornamental ; especially
in spring, when the leaves first expand.
¥ A. P . 6 purpùrea H ort. — Leaves of a fine purple underneath. This
variety was found in a bed of seedlings, in Saunders’s Nursery,
Jersey, about 1828, and is now to be met with in all the principal
nurseries. The tree has a very singular effect when the leaves are
slightly ruffled by the wind, alternately appearing clothed in purple
and in pale green. In spring, when the leaves first expand, the
purple bloom is less obvious than when they become matured, at
which time it is very distinct.
Otlier Varieties. In the garden of the H ort. Soc. there is a variety called
Hodgkins's Seedling, w ith yellow-blotched leaves ; and another, called Leslie’s
Seedling. In Hayne’s Dendrologische Flora there are, also, the following varieties
f A. P . stenóptera, A. P. macróptera, and A. P . microptera, which differ
in the proportions of the wings of the keys, and do not appear w orth farther
notice. In all seed beds and young plantations some of the plants will be
found with the petioles and the buds red, and others with the petioles and
the buds greenish yellow : such trees, when o f considerable size, are very
distinct in their general aspect, when in bud, and when they have newly
come into leaf; but after midsummer, when the leaves are ffldy matured
and begin to get rusty, th e trees are scarcely distinguishable. Different
plants also differ much'in the time of their coming into leaf, and of dropping
their leaves ; and some of the more remarkable o f these it might be
The growth of the common sycainore is very rapid
tyÆpv snecies of A'cqv, particularly when it is in a deep, free, rich soil,
and in a mild climate. I t arrives at its full growth in 50 or 60 years ; but it
reouires to be 80 or 100 years old before its wood arrives at perfection. In
m ? sh v soil or in dry sand, and even on chalk, the tree never attains any size.
“tTro^imes ^¿rtile Jeeds ¿ the. age o f 20 years, b u t «owers s e v e r ^
sooner • sometimes even perfecting its seeds sooner also. The longevity ot
ihe tree is from 140 to 200 years, though it has been known of a nm®h greater
aoe The wood weighs per cubic foot, newly cut, 64 lb. ; half-dry , 56 lb .,
drv' 48 lb I t loses, in drying, about a twelfth part ol its bulk. When the
tree’ is voun« it is white ; but, as the tree gets older, the wood becomes a little
S o ? a ? ? o f t e n brown, esp’eeially towards the heart. I t is compact and
Lm without being very hard ; of a fine gram, sometimes veined, susceptible
of a’ high polish,°and easily worked, either on the bench, or m the turum^-
lathe I t does not warp, and is not likely to be attacked by worms. I t is
used in joinery and turnery, and cabinet-makmg ; by musical mstrum^^^^
makers • for cider-presses ; and, sometimes, for gun-stocks. Foimeily, .when
wooden dishes and spoons were more used than they are a t present, it ^
much in demand, especially in Scotland, by the mamifactnrers
As underwood, the sycamore shoots freely from the stool, to the age ot 80 or
100 years. As a timber tree, it is most advantageously cut down a t the age
of 80 years, or from th a t age to 100. As an ornamenta tree, ’t ^
best effect, either singly, or in groups of two or three, placed sufficiently neai
to form a whole, but not so as to touch each other ; and in ''O''’"
The varieties with variegated leaves are very ornamental m the begmn.ng ot
o 4