LXXI1I. .BALSAMA CEJE. 



931 



seeds may also be kept in the balls, or catkins, till spring ; either by allowing 

 them to nang on the tree, or by gathering them in autumn, and spreading 

 them out in a dry loft. The general practice is to sow the seeds in autumn, 

 or as soon as gathered, or received from the Continent ; choosing a moist 

 rich soil, and a shady situation, and covering them as lightly as those of the 

 birch or alder are covered, or beating them in with the back of the spade, and 

 not covering them at all ; and protecting the beds with litter of some sort, to 

 exclude the frost. The plants will come up the following spring. 



2. P. OCCIDENTALS L. The Western Plane. 



Identification. Lin. Hort. Cliff., 78. ; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. 475. ; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 5. 



Synonymes. P. occidentalis seu virginiensis Park. Theatr. 1427., Du Ham. Arb. t. 35. ; Button- 

 wood, Water Beech, Sycamore, Cotton Tree, Amer. ; Platane de Virginia, Fr. 



Derivation. Button-wood refers to the smooth round heads of flowers, which resemble the globular 

 buttons formerly in use, and still seen in some military costumes ; Sycamore to the resemblance of 

 the leaves to those of that tree ; and Cotton Tree to the down detached in the course of the summer 

 from the leaves. 



Engravings. Dend. Brit., t. 100. ; Michx. N. Amer. Syl. . t. 63. ; the plate of this species in Arb. 

 Brit., 1st edit., vol. viii. ; and our fig. 1737. In fig. 1737. a represents a transverse section of the 

 female catkin in flower ; b, the same in fruit ; c, the female flower and scale ; a, the stamen and 

 scale ; e, the longitudinal section of a seed j and/, an entire seed. 



Spec. Char.y tyc. Leaves 5-angled, obsoletely lobed, dentate, wedge-shaped 

 at the base ; downy beneath. ( Willd.) A large deciduous tree. Atlantic 

 and Western States. Height 70 or 80 feet ; with a widely spreading head. 

 Introduced in 1636. Flowers greenish ; May. Fruit brownish ; ripe in 

 October and November. 



The American, or Western, plane is of much more rapid and upright growth 

 than the Oriental plane ; with broader and less deeply cut leaves, red petioles, 

 and fruit comparatively smooth, and considerably larger. The bark is said to 

 scale off in larger pieces, and the wood to be more curiously veined. In all 

 other respects, the descriptive par- 

 ticulars of both trees are the same. 

 The rate of growth of P. occidentals, 

 when placed near water, is so rapid, 

 that in 10 years it will attain the 

 height of 40 ft. ; and a tree in the 

 Palace Garden at Lambeth, near a 

 pond, in 20 years had attained the 

 height of 80 ft. ; with a trunk 8 ft. in 

 circumference at 3 ft. from the ground ; 

 and the diameter of the head 48 ft. 

 This was in 1817. In May, 1837, 

 we had the portrait of this tree taken, 

 which will be found in Arb. Brit., 

 1st edit., p. 2044., when it was up- 

 wards of 100 ft. in height. Uses, culture, soil, e., as in P. orientalis, with this 

 difference : that cuttings root much more readily ; that the tree, to attain a 

 very large size, requires a moister soil, or to be placed near water ; that it is 

 less hardy, and also less ornamental, though, from being more readily pro- 

 pagated, it is much more frequently planted. 



1737. P. occidental! 



ORDER LXXIII. ALSAMA V CE.SE. 



ORD. CHAR. Flowers unisexual, in different catkins on the same plant. 

 Male calkins in an upright raceme. Stamens numerous, mixed with scales, 

 on a connate receptacle. Female catkins solitary, below the male ones, 

 globose, on longer stalks. Ovaria many, 2-celled, each surrounded by a few 

 scales. Styles two. Fruit a kind of cone, composed of indurated connected 

 scales, in the cavities of which lie the capsules, which are 2-iobed. Seeds 



3 o 2 



