112 



SYLVA BRITANNICA. 



assign it a shorter period of duration than the Oak ; 

 for he tells us of one in Arcadia of extraordinary- 

 size and beauty, supposed to have been planted by 

 Menelaus, the husband of the beautiful Helen, 

 about thirteen hundred years before the period when 

 he describes it as being in so much luxuriance and 

 vigour. There are two species of this tree, the 

 Oriental and the Occidental : they both love the 

 water, particularly the Occidental, which thrives 

 rapidly by the side of a stream ; and the size which 

 they attain in those soils where they flourish best, 

 introduces them to a still closer acquaintance with 

 the element they are so fond of, by rendering their 

 trunks fit for vessels and canoes, to which purpose 

 they are frequently applied. 



THE PLANE TREE AT LEE COURT, 



near Blackheath, is a beautiful specimen of the 

 Oriental kind. It waves its slender branches and 

 light clustering leaves over the stream of a small 

 rivulet, tempting the angler to seek its cooling 

 shade ; whilst within a few yards' distance, on 

 the opposite bank, stands the ancient residence 

 of the family of Bohun, thus described in the 

 journal of Evelyn. " Went to visit our good 

 neighbour Mr. Bohun, whose whole house is a 

 cabinet of all elegancies, especially Indian : in the 



