148 FAMILIAR TREES 



summer the axillary buds are entirely concealed in 

 a conical hollow in the base of the leaf-stalk, 

 being only revealed at the fall of the leaf. 



The flowering branches are from two to six or 

 more inches long, bearing from one to five, but 

 most commonly three, of the buttons. Those that 

 produce pollen are simply collections of short- 

 stalked stamens mixed with a few narrow-pointed 

 scales, and, as is generally the case with catkin- 

 bearing trees, the whole branchlet falls when the 

 pollen has been discharged. The fertile florets, too, 

 are of the simplest structure possible, being merely 

 one-chambered and one-seeded ovaries, each pro- 

 longed into a style, curved at its apex, and with a 

 sticky stigma down one side ; whilst as this ovary 

 enlarges into a little nut, a tuft of bristles grows 

 up from its base, giving the burr-like character to 

 the whole catkin. 



The timber of the Plane is fine-grained and of a 

 brownish-yellow oak colour, somewhat resembling 

 Beech, prettily marked, and thus well adapted for 

 ornamental use. It is almost exclusively used by 

 carriage-builders and pianoforte -makers, for the 

 sides of wagonettes and the bridges in the piano, 

 the manner in which it " takes paint " fitting it for 

 the former purpose, and its toughness and hard- 

 ness, by which the pins are securely held, for the 

 latter. When old, the wood sometimes has dark 

 veins in it, like those of Walnut. 



One of the most interesting points connected 

 with the Plane is the geographical distribution of 

 its various forms, which most botanists treat as 





