PINK IVORY— PLANEj 255 



Pink Ivory, Zulu " Mnini " (Order Leguminosm), A beautiful, 

 but as yet undetermined, wood, of an Acacia-like tree of moderate 

 dimensions, growing in kloofs in Soutli-Western Natal, with 

 yellowish broad sapwood and rose-pink heart, compact, fine-grained, 

 moderately heavy and hard, and with indistinct rings. 



Plane, Eastern, or Oriental {Pldtanus orientdlis L. : Order Plata- 

 ndcecB), Kashmir to Greece. French '' Platane de TOrient." 

 Oerm, '' Morgenlandischer Platanus." Arab. "Doolb." Pers. 

 ''Chinar." Probably the Hebrew '' Armon " in Gen. xxx. 37, 

 correctly rendered TrXaraz/o? in the Septuagint and Platanus in 

 the Vulgate ; but '' Chestnut " in the Authorized Version. Height 

 70 ft. ; diam. 3—5 ft. W 30-5—42. Pale yellow or slightly reddish, 

 resembling Beech, but softer, in very old trees becoming brown 

 with black lines so as to resemble Wahiut, fine, close, and smooth- 

 grained, capable of a high pohsh, but very apt to warp and split, 

 frequently worm-eaten and not durable, but improved by soaking 

 for several years ; annual rings finely but distinctly marked, bending 

 outward at the pith-rays ; pith-rays numerous and broad, occupying 

 nearly half the surface, and producing a pretty figure ; vessels 

 scarcely recognizable. Formerly used for " dug-out" boats at 

 Mount Athos, and by the Turks for ship-building ; in Persia and 

 the Levant employed for cabinet-work, turnery, and carpentry, and 

 in Prance as a substitute for Beech or Hornbeam. 



Plane, Western or Occidental {Platanus occidentdlis L.) Eastern 

 North America. Known also as " Sycamore, Button-wood, Water- 

 Beech, Button-ball Tree," or when cut radially as " Lace-wood " 

 or " Honeysuckle Wood." French '' Platane Americain, Platane 

 de Virginie." Height 120 ft. ; diam. 10—14 ft. or more. S.G. 568. 

 W 51-5 — 28. Bj 635 kilos. Sapwood wider than in the Beech, 

 yellowish ; heart reddish- white, resembling Beech, except that the 

 broad pith-rays are far more prominent ; rather heavy, rather hard, 

 compact, stiff, tough, not very strong, usually cross-grained, difficult 

 to split, but, when dry, easy to cut in every direction, liable to warp, 

 not durable if exposed ; rings marked by a fine line bending slightly 

 outward at the pith-rays ; vessels evenly distributed. Used con- 

 siderably for cigar- and tobacco-boxes, wooden bowls, butchers' 

 blocks, cooperage and blind-wood in cabinet-work. The cabinet- 

 makers of Philadelphia object to the wood when in plank from its 

 tendency to warp ; but when well seasoned it stands well, and is 

 imported into England for furniture. It is also cut radially as 

 veneers, the '' felt " or " silver grain " produced by the pith-rays 

 being darker than the ground colour, which is just the converse of 

 the arrangement of tint in Oak. Plane makes good fuel when dry, 

 but the difficulty of sphtting it hinders its use. The Californian 

 species (P. racemosa Nutt.) has very similar wood. 



