The name Sycamore applies to a maple (_Acer pseudo-platanus_) in Europe, to a fig-tree (_Ficus sycomorus_) in the Orient,[40] and to the buttonball or plane tree (_Platanus_) in North America. Of the plane trees (_Platanus_) the common or Oriental plane (_Platanus orientalis_) is a native of Europe; the plane, buttonball, or sycamore tree (_Platanus occidentalis_) is a native and common tree in eastern North America; and the California plane, buttonball, or sycamore (_Platanus racemosa_) is a native of western North America. The sycamore stands for curiosity, because of its Biblical association with Zaccheus. Many European sycamores were planted by religious persons during the middle ages because of the belief that they were the trees thus referred to in the Bible. [Illustration: SYCAMORE (_Platanus occidentalis_).] The woods afforded by the American sycamores have unusually complicated, cross-grained, but beautiful structures, difficult to work, but standing well and valued for cabinet work and small articles. American trees are often very large. American buttonball or sycamore trees are distinguished by rough balls which remain hanging on long stems throughout the winter. The bark also is shed to an unusual extent; flakes of the outer cover drop away, exposing smooth inner surfaces so white as to appear as if painted. Six or seven species are included in the genus; three occur in North America. _Platanus_ is from _platus_, signifying broad, and refers to the shape of the leaves. [p066] FOOTNOTE [Footnote 40: Brockhaus, Konversations-Lexicon (B. 15, p. 536).] SYCAMORE. BUTTONWOOD. BUTTONBALL-TREE. _Platanus occidentalis Linn._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Sycamore, Buttonwood, Buttonball Tree (local and common names). Buttonball (R. I., N. Y., Pa., Fla.). Plane Tree (R. I., Del., S. C., Kans., Nebr., Ia.). Water Beech (Del.). Platane cotonier, Bois puant (La.). Locality. Maine to Florida, westward intermittently to Nebraska and Texas. Best in bottom lands of Ohio and Mississippi River basins. Features of Tree. Ninety to over one hundred feet in height, six to sometimes twelve feet in diameter. Inner bark exposed in white patches. Large rough balls or fruit. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood lighter, close-grained, compact structures, satiny conspicuous medullary rays. Attractive when quartered. Structural Qualities of Wood. Heavy, hard, difficult to work, not strong, stands well when not exposed. Representative Uses of Wood. Tobacco-boxes, ox-yokes, butcher-blocks, cabinet-work. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 35. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,220,000. Modulus of Rupture. 9000. Remarks. Some specimens rank among the largest of American deciduous trees. These are usually hollow. The remarkably rigid bark does not stretch to accommodate the growth and is thus discarded to an unusual degree. [p067]