148 FAMILIAR TREES 
summer the axillary buds are entirely concealed in 
a conical hollow in the base of the leaf-stalk, 
being only revealed at the fall of the leaf. 
The flowering branches are from two to six or 
more inches long, bearing from one to five, but 
most commonly three, of the buttons. Those that 
produce pollen are simply collections of short- 
stalked stamens mixed with a few narrow-pointed 
scales, and, as is generally the case with catkin- 
bearing trees, the whole branchlet falls when the 
pollen has been discharged. The fertile florets, too, 
are of the simplest structure possible, being merely 
one-chambered and one-seeded ovaries, each pro- 
longed into a style, curved at its apex, and with a 
sticky stigma down one side; whilst as this ovary 
enlarges into a little nut, a tuft of bristles grows 
up from its base, giving the burr-like character to 
the whole catkin. 
The timber of the Plane is fine-grained and of a 
brownish-yellow oak colour, somewhat resembling 
Beech, prettily marked, and thus well adapted for 
ornamental use. It is almost exclusively used by 
carriage-builders and _ pianoforte-makers, for the 
sides of wagonettes and the bridges in the piano, 
the manner in which it “takes paint” fitting it for 
the former purpose, and its toughness and hard- 
ness, by which the pins are securely held, for the 
latter. When old, the wood sometimes has dark 
veins in it, like those of Walnut. 
One of the most interesting points connected 
with the Plane is the geographical distribution of 
its various forms, which most botanists treat as 
