Henky and Flood — Tkc History of the Loivlon Plane. 21 



from /'. cunrata. The latter is recognizable by its peculiar fruit, which seems 

 to stamp it as of hybriil origin, dating from some time previous to 1789, when 

 it was known to Alton. Tlie fruit-balls are small, and often made up of 

 imperfect achenes, in which the embryos are wanting. Such imperfect fruit 

 often results from liybridity. Loudon describes P. cunmfa as a stunted- 

 looking low tree ; but it grows well at Kcw, and there are trees of moderate 

 size in various parks and gardens. 



7. Platanus digitata, Gordon, in " Tlie Garden," 1872, p. 572. 

 Plate Till, fig. 7. 



A small tree, like P. orienialis in foliage ; Imt the leaves are considerably 

 smaller, not exceeding 5 inches broad, with wider and deeper sinuses between 

 the elongated and toothed live lobes; base truncate with a short central 

 cuneate part ; main nerves arising at some distance above the junction of the 

 petiole with the blade ; tomeutum persisting on tlie petiole and at the origin 

 of the main nerves. Fruit-balls, two or three on the peduncle, bristly, very 

 small, about | inch in diameter, composed of a few imperfect achenes, no 

 embryos being developed ; achene with tomentose body and nearly glabrous 

 short conical head ending in a pei'sistent style. 



In the Kew herbarium there is a dried fruiting branch taken from a tree 

 in the Chiswick Garden of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, which is labelled 

 P. dyjitata by Gordon and agrees with his description. It is rare in cultiva- 

 tion, and we know of only' two living trees, one in the Cambridge Botanic 

 Garden and the other at Bictou. Both are slow in growth and stunted in 

 habit, and are identical with P. digitata, though they have been erroneously 

 labelled P. cuneala. Gordon's account of the tree being introduced from the 

 Caucasus is unreliable ; and is due to Koch's statement that P. cuneata was 

 a native of the Caucasus. There appears to have been at the time considerable 

 coufusicyi between P. cuneata and P. digitata. Though there is no direct 

 evidence for it, in all probability P. digitata is a seedling of P. accri/olia. 



S. Platanus cantabrigensis, A. Henry, Hghrida nova. 



A tree in the Cambridge Botanic Garden of unknown origin, and without 

 a label. Leaves small in size, not exceeding 5 inches in width, with five 



' The Mall, London, is largely planted with a nii.xlure of the true London Plane and 

 of the Pyramidal Plane. There are also a few planes of a third sort growing much more 

 slowly than either of these. It has deeply lobed leaves, and may be identical with 1'. 

 ditjiUUa. 



