Platanus, or sycamore, supposedly derives its botanical name from the Greek word “platys”, which means “broad”, and describes its wide leaves. However, some believe that its name was derived from “Plato”, who lectured about philosophy within the shade of a sycamore grove, rather than an olive orchard, outside of Athens. The Tree of Hippocrates, is an individual Platanus orientalis that was planted centuries ago, supposedly where Hippocrates lectured about medicine under a much older tree of the same species. Trees grown from cuttings and seed from the Tree of Hippocrates have been shared with medical institutions, schools and libraries all over the World. One seedling was planted at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz in 1968. Until only the last few years, it had been pollarded in an exemplary manner, which left no twigs for me to get cuttings from during winter. Only last summer, a gardener left me a few twigs, which I plugged as early cuttings. Of course, most succumbed to summer warmth. Some of the survivors did not root through winter. Now, though, there are four surviving rooted cuttings! So, we have four copies of a seedling of the second Tree of Hippocrates! Does that count for anything?