visitors by its size and beauty. The vigor and rapidity of growth of the 

 London plane is due to this hybrid origin and these features have made this 

 species one of the most highly recommended for street and highway planting. 



The plane is a native of Greece, Cyprus, Rhodes and Asia Minor. It has 

 always been highly regarded. The Greeks planted it in groves, under whose 

 heavy shade their philosophers were wont to meditate. Tradition relates 

 that when Xerxes invaded Greece, a plane so delighted him that he encircled 

 it with a collar of gold, stamped a figure of it on a gold medal which he con- 

 tinually wore, and tarried so long beneath it as to ruin his chances of success. 

 Pliny also admired this tree and tells us that no tree so well defends us from 

 the heat of the sun in summer, nor that admits it more kindly in winter. The 

 plane was held in veneration by the Egyptians and worshipped with fruit 

 offerings and jars of water from which travelers might partake. 



Near Constantinople there is a plane 100 feet high, 165 feet in circum- 

 ference and 1 30 feet in the spread of its branches, which is 2000 years old or more. 

 On the Greek island of Cos is a giant tree which has become so old and pon- 

 derous that it is necessary to support its branches with marble columns. 



In his Sylva, Evelyn writes of "the incomparable and shady Platanus, 

 that so beautiful and precious tree which we read the Romans brought out of 

 the Levant, and cultivated it with so much industry and cost for its stately 

 and proud head only ; that they would irrigate them with wine instead of water ; 

 and so prized the very shadow of it, that when afterwards they transplanted 

 them into France, they exacted a tribute of any of the natives who should 

 presume to put his head under it." 



The plane does remarkably well on London streets, where it was planted 

 in 1789. Its distinctiveness has given it an important place in modern English 

 art, and it is often to be seen in paintings and drawings. The streets of Wash- 

 ington and Philadelphia have many beautiful specimens, and the planes that 

 were planted in Sacramento a few years ago are so vigorous and attractive 

 that they have been widely planted in all parts of the city. The tree is well 

 adapted for street and highway planting because of the ease with which it 

 is transplanted, its resistance to insect pests, symmetry and rapid growth. 

 It is disposed to grow rather large but stands severe pruning well and can 

 be made to conform to the width of any street without injury. 



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