Hypertext Webster Gateway: "buttonwood"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Plane \Plane\, n. [F., fr. L. platanus, Gr. ?, fr. ? broad; --
so called on account of its broad leaves and spreading form.
See {Place}, and cf. {Platane}, {Plantain} the tree.] (Bot.)
Any tree of the genus Platanus.
Note: The Oriental plane ({Platanus orientalis}) is a native
of Asia. It rises with a straight, smooth, branching
stem to a great height, with palmated leaves, and long
pendulous peduncles, sustaining several heads of small
close-sitting flowers. The seeds are downy, and
collected into round, rough, hard balls. The Occidental
plane ({Platanus occidentalis}), which grows to a great
height, is a native of North America, where it is
popularly called {sycamore}, {buttonwood}, and
{buttonball}, names also applied to the California
species ({Platanus racemosa}).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Buttonwood \But"ton*wood`\, n. (Bot.)
The {Platanus occidentalis}, or American plane tree, a large
tree, producing rough balls, from which it is named; --
called also {buttonball tree}, and, in some parts of the
United States, {sycamore}. The California buttonwood is {P.
racemosa}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
buttonwood
n : very large spreading plane tree of eastern and central North
America to Mexico [syn: {American sycamore}, {American
plane}, {Platanus occidentalis}]
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