218 



THE OCCIDENTAL PLANE. 



dimensions the other trees which stand around. 

 Michaux mentions one growing on a small island 

 in the Ohio, which measured forty feet in circum- 

 ference at five feet from the ground : and another 

 on the right bank of the same river, which sent 

 up a columnar mass of timber, forty-seven feet 

 in circumference to the height of twenty feet be- 

 fore it began to branch. His host offered to 

 shew him others equally large, a few miles off 

 from this last station. 



In the Atlantic States of America the Plane 

 is commonly known by the name of Butt6nwood, 

 from the resemblance between its seed-balls and 

 old-fashioned buttons. In other states it is called 

 Water Beech, Sycamore or Cotton Tree. In some 

 parts, where it is very abundant, the inhabitants 

 regard it with dread, as they think that the down, 

 which in summer detaches itself from the leaves 

 and floats about in the air, has a tendency, when 

 inhaled, to produce irritation of the lungs and 

 finally consumption. 



The timber of the Plane is of no great value, 

 on account of its liability to warp ; it is, how- 

 ever, remarkable for having its concentric circles 

 interrupted by bright medullary rays, and it will 

 take a good polish. It is only used for the com- 

 monest purposes. 



''The Occidental Plane," says Lindley, ''has 

 been universally allowed to usurp the place of 

 the Orientals in our plantations and parks. Nine 

 tenths of the Planes in the country belong to it ; 

 but it is so tender that it is rare to see a really hand- 

 some specimen, the leaves being half killed by 

 spring frosts, and the foliage, at the best, thin and 

 bare, compared with that of the Oriental Plane." 



