LXXII. PLATANA CEiE : PLA TANUS. 



929 



P. o. 3 hispdnica. P. hispanica Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836 ; P. macrophylla 

 Cree in Don. Cat. ; the Spanish Maple. Leaves rather longer than 

 those of the species, but it is in other respects the same. 



P. o. 4 cuneata. P. o. undulata Ait. Hort. Kew. iii. p. 364. : P. cu- 

 neata Willd. Sp. PI. iv. p. 473. (The plate of this tree in Arb. Brit., 



r^<^ 



1?8. P. o. cunekta. 



1st edit., vol. viii. ; and o\ir fig. 1734.) Leaves 3 5-lobed, dentate, 

 and wedge-shaped at the base ; somewhat glabrous. This is a 

 stunted-looking low tree or bush, seldom seen above 20 ft, in height, 

 with small deeply cut leaves. 



The oriental plane is one of the noblest trees of the East, where it grows 

 to the height of 70 ft. and upwards, with widely spreading branches and a 

 massive trunk ; forming altogether a majestic tree. The wood may be com- 

 pared to that of the ^'cer 

 Pseiido-Platanus ; but very 

 little use is made of it in the 

 Westof Europe. Pliny affirms 

 that there is no tree whatso- 

 ever that defends us so well 

 from the heat of the sun in 

 summer, or that admits it 

 more kindly in winter. Both 

 properties result from the 

 large size of its leaves : in 



; summer, these present hori- 



' zontal imbricated masses, 



I which, while they are favour- 



.' able to the passage of the 



' breeze, yet exclude both the 



! sun and the rain ; while, as 



' the distance at which the branches and twigs of trees are from one another is 



; always proportionate to the size of the leaves, hence the tree in winter is 



; more than usually open to the sun's rays. As an ornamental tree, no one 



) 3 o 



1735. P. orientillis. 



