Buttonwood 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 Platanus racemosa.
... those trees father built his second house in 1836. He made the body of this house of large whitewood logs, split oak shakes with which to cover it, and dug a well east of the house. Into this well he put the shell of a large buttonwood log; we called it a "gum." It was said that water would not taste of buttonwood; we had very ... — The Bark Covered House • William Nowlin
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