The generic name, _Platanus_, comes from the Greek word for broad, and has reference to the wide-spreading leaves and branches of the tree. The specific name, _occidentalis_, was given to the sycamore as distinctive from _Platanus orientalis_, the oriental plane tree of Europe. The oriental plane is planted occasionally in this country, and may be distinguished from our native species by its broader head and by the fruit, which frequently hangs in clusters instead of singly on the tree. The _Cornaceæ_ or dogwood family contains two New England genera. Among many species of shrubs, two trees deserve especial notice, the tupelo and the flowering dogwood. [Sidenote: Tupelo, Pepperidge, Sour Gum Tree _Nyssa sylvatica_] _A medium-sized tree, with horizontal branches and often with an excurrent trunk. Dark gray furrowed bark. Grayish brown twigs, with alternate ridged leaf-scars and three bundle-scars at the top of the leaf-scar. Small, brown buds, with overlapping, hairy scales. The fruit is a small, bluish black drupe, ripe in the autumn._ The tupelo at all seasons is a striking tree, and is easily distinguished even at a distance by its flat, rigid branches, growing in horizontal layers from the main trunk. It varies much in shape, according to its surroundings in youth. When it has grown up among other trees in the woods it is erect and tall, and when it has stood by itself in open ground it is low and broad, and almost always carries its main trunk well into the top of the tree. The wood is heavy, tough, and hard to work, and the fibres intertwine so closely that it is very difficult to split. It is used in making the hubs of wheels and ox yokes. [Illustration: TUPELO _Nyssa sylvatica_ Page 120 ] The generic name, _Nyssa_, is the Greek name of a nymph, and was given to the tupelo on account of its habit of growing in wet places, on the borders of ponds, and in low, moist woods. The specific name is frequently given to plants and trees, and comes from the Latin word which means belonging to the woods. It is found from Maine to Florida and westward, and stands the winds from the sea well when it grows along the coast, apparently losing little of its vigor. [Sidenote: Flowering Cornel, Flowering Dogwood _Cornus florida_] _A small tree or shrub, 12 to 40 feet high, with a dark, rough bark. The recent shoots are gray and covered with down. The leaf-scars are small and opposite each other on the stem. The flower buds are conspicuous._ The flowering cornel can be distinguished by its flower buds alone in winter, if by nothing else. They are small and round with long curving tips, and in shape they look something like the paper torpedoes children play with on the Fourth of July. This is the only native tree in our climate, besides the maple and ash, which has opposite leaf-scars.