626 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



who had a preceptory here. It measured, in 1906, 72 feet high by 13 feet 



9 inches in girth, but has the habit of typica rather than of acerifolia. 



In Wales the finest plane that I have seen is a tall tree growing near the 

 icehouse at Dynevor Castle. In 1906 it measured about 100 feet by lo^ feet 

 with a clean trunk about 40 feet long. 



In Scotland we have seen no plane remarkable for size, but there is one 

 growing in the grounds at Benmore, Argyllshire, which has a curious resemblance 

 in its foliage to the occidental plane. 



In Ireland, the largest London plane, seen by Henry, is growing at Lismore 

 Castle, and measures 12 feet 10 inches in girth, with an estimated height of about 

 90 feet. Mr. R. D. O'Brien informs us that a tree at Cooper Hill, near Limerick, is 



10 feet 5 inches in girth, with a spread of 74 feet in diameter. 



Timber 



The wood of the plane is so little known in the timber trade of this country that 

 it is not even mentioned by " Acorn," except as a name in use for sycamore, which is 

 commonly called plane in Scotland ; and in a recent letter in the Timber Trade 

 Journal, what is known as lace-wood in the trade is spoken of as wood of the sycamore, 

 imported from America, though it is really that of Platanus occidentalis. The 

 ignorance which prevails among English timber merchants and builders about many 

 of our useful woods is remarkable, and has led to many lawsuits, but there is no 

 doubt that the wood of the oriental plane is one of much greater value than is 

 supposed, both for ornamental work and for coach-building. 



Mr. George Berry of Longleat ' says that the timber of the plane tree is used 

 almost exclusively by coach-builders and pianoforte-makers. No wood takes the 

 paint and stands so well for the sides of large waggonettes as this. In the case of 

 pianos, it was used exclusively for bridges, the toughness and hardness enabling the 

 pins to be most securely held. He considers that plane timber exported from 

 America is of very inferior value as compared with that of English growth. 



Dr. Day sent me from the Lebanon a large board which shows a very beautiful 

 and varied figure produced by the medullary rays, and I have seen in Prof. Sargent's 

 house at Brookline, near Boston, very handsome panelling made of the wood of the 

 western species. This wood is converted into veneer or three-ply, and sold as 

 lace-wood, for covering the walls of rooms, and would make very pretty furniture if 

 properly cut and seasoned. Gamble says that the wood is not valued in Kashmir, 

 except to make boxes, trays, pencases, and similar articles, which are lacquered or 

 painted. I have seen very ornamental boxes made from this wood in Russia. 



(H. J. E.) 



1 Garden, xxii. 83 (1882). 



