2046 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



by Mr. John Tradescant, in whose garden two small plants were growing in 

 1636, when Johnson published his edition of Gerard's Herball. These plants 

 were again spoken of by Parkinson in 1640. It was afterwards so much 

 propagated, that, in Evelyn's time, it had become more common than P. orien- 

 talis. The tree propagating readily by cuttings, and growing with great 

 rapidity, was, in Miller's time, and indeed till 1809, considered hardier than 

 the Oriental plane; but, in the May of that year (not June, as stated in the 

 Planter's Jfalendar}, a severe frost killed back the young shoots of many of 

 the largest plants of this species in England ; particularly those in Richmond 

 Park, at Kew, at Syon House, at Stowe, at Pain's Hill, and at Claremont. There 

 are still large trees, however, in the Chelsea Garden, in the grounds of Lambeth 

 Palace, at Deepdene, and various other places. In Scotland, where trees 

 of both P. orientalis and P. occidentalis were standing near each other, the 

 former escaped; but the latter were generally injured, and many either died the 

 same year, or, after making an ineffectual effort to push, in the summer of 

 the year following, viz. 1810. "It is very singular," Sang observes, " that 

 of the P. occidentalis the largest trees only were killed. Trees of from 20 ft. 

 to 25 ft. in height were little hurt ; and smaller ones not at all, at least 

 in every instance that came under our observation. We did not observe, 

 or hear," he adds, " of a single Oriental plane being injured in any part 

 of the country." (Plant. Kal., p. 99.) The severe winter of 1813-14 de- 

 stroyed a number of the Occidental planes which escaped the severe frost 

 of 1809, so that the tree is at present comparatively rare throughout Britain. 

 An account of the damage done to the Occidental plane tree, in different 

 parts of England, in 1809, will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 

 1810 and 1813; from which it appears, that on the 25th of January, 1809, 

 there was a great flood, occasioned by a sudden thaw ; and in the March and 

 April following there was very mild weather, which caused the plane trees to 

 put out their leaves earlier than usual. This was succeeded by a severe frost 

 in the beginning of May, which so far injured the trees, that they appeared 

 sickly throughout all the summer; and in the spring of 1810 they almost all 

 died. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the American plane, according to 

 Michaux, in seasoning becomes of a dull red ; but its grain is fine and close, 

 and it is susceptible of a brighter polish than the wood of the beech, to which 

 it bears considerable resemblance. Its concentric circles are divided into 

 numerous sections, by fine medullary rays extending from the centre to the 

 circumference. When the trunk is sawn in a slanting direction, these rays 

 have a remarkable appearance. The cabinet-makers of Philadelphia, how- 

 ever, rarely use the wood, on account of its warping ; but it is sometimes 

 employed for bedsteads, which retain their natural colour, and are coated with 

 varnish. The wood soon decays when exposed to the weather. Like the 

 wood of the beech, it shrinks very much in drying, and is very apt to split. 

 As fuel, it does not produce a very lively flame, nor does it yield much charcoal. 

 It contains a great deal more sap wood than the beech ; so much so, that a pa- 

 rallelopipedon of green platanus 6 in. square weighed 18 Ib. 10 oz. ; while a 

 piece of beech of the same size only weighed 15 Ib. 13oz. The platanus, in 

 drying, lost 6 Ib. 15 oz., and the beech only 5lb. 9oz. ; which gives 5 Ib. 

 6 oz. of difference in the cubic foot. The platanus weighs, when dry, 51 Ib. 

 8 oz. per cubic foot ; and in that state it is easy to work, cutting readily in 

 every direction, and is therefore well adapted for cabinet-work. In Britain, 

 the principal use of the platanus is as an ornamental tree ; for which purpose 

 it has all those qualities to recommend it which we have attributed to the 

 Oriental plane, except that it is much less hardy, and, to attain a large size, 

 requires the presence of water. As a picturesque tree, the Occidental plane 

 is thus characterised by Gilpin. He places it after the oak, the ash, the elm, 

 the beech, and the hornbeam, which he considers as deciduous trees of the 

 first rank ; saying of both species of platanus, that, though neither so beauti- 

 ful nor so characteristic as the firht-mcntioncd trees, they are yet worth the 



