40 



injured by inserts. The leaves break out in 

 May, and are lost rather early in the autumn. 

 While the foliage is young the flower-stalks appear. 

 The little round catkins, generally from two to 

 five in number, hang downwards on thin slender 

 footstalks, and forni quite a feature of the tree 

 at all seasons of the year. As the seed ripens, 

 a tuft of bristles forms at the base. The sexes 

 are on different flowers, though both are contained 

 in the small globular catkins. 



The smooth bark, which is of a greyish colour, 

 flakes off in large irregular patches. It is prob- 

 ably owing to this annual shedding of bark, and 

 to the polished backs of the leaves being cleansed 

 by the slightest shower, that the plane is so suit- 

 able for cultivation in our towns. 



P. OccidcutiiUs, the American species, is the 

 one generally planted in England. P. Onciitalis, 

 our other species, is rarely met with ; it is easily 

 distinguished from the Western plane, the lobes 

 of the leaves being more deeply cut. It is con- 

 sidered to have the weaker constitution of the 

 two, but in a sheltered situation, and given 

 plenty of room, it forms a grand tree, as may 

 be observed from the subjeft of our photograph, 

 which is the best specimen of the Eastern plane 

 we have seen growing in this country. Both 

 species appear to have been introduced about 

 the middle of the Seventeenth Century. 



