THE ORIENTAL PLANE. 351 



exceptions, to be the only trees that are met with in many 

 parts of Persia, for Fraser, in his historical description 

 of that country, published in 1834, when adverting to the 

 general effect of Persian scenery, remarks, " that no trees 

 gladden the landscape, except the tall poplar or the stately 

 Chinar, which rise above the hovels of the peasants, or 

 the fruit trees of their orchards, or perhaps a few other 

 sorts which may have been planted on the margin of a 

 water-course, to supply the little timber required ; and 

 these, dotting the wild plain with their dark foliage, convey 

 to the mind a melancholy rather than a cheering im- 

 pression. 11 



Loudon remarks, that the Oriental Plane, as an orna- 

 mental tree, is much better adapted for pleasure-grounds 

 and for planting near houses, than for extensive parks or 

 for imitations of forest scenery ; its character possessing 

 a mildness of expression, combined, at the same time, 

 with a majesty and gracefulness of form, that peculiarly fits 

 it for domestic scenery. Its foliage is beautiful, not only 

 for the shape, colour, and texture of the leaves, but for 

 the tufted or rather imbricated manner in which it is 

 disposed, in consequence of the strata-like form the branches 

 naturally assume ; a disposition, it may be observed, which, 

 at the same time that it produces those recesses which 

 give an effective depth of shade, allows, during sunshine, 

 the admissiou of rays sufficient to create those flickering 

 lights, which divest the tree of that character of heavi- 

 ness which offends and tires the eye, in such trees as pre- 

 sent an unbroken and regularly-rounded outline. As tim- 

 ber, the wood of the Oriental Plane is almost unknown 

 thoughout the greater part of the south and west of 

 Europe, but in Greece, Persia, and other native habitats 

 it is extensively used, not only in cabinet work, but in 



