50 
ORIENTAL PLANE TREE. 
at the base, and its branches covered a space of 130 
feet in diameter. The trunk divides into 14 branches, 
some of which issue from below the present surface of 
the soil, and some do not divide till they rise 7 or 8 feet 
above it; one of the largest is hollowed out by fire, and 
affords a cabin to shelter a husbandman. The tree, if 
it can be considered a single plant, is certainly the 
largest in the world. But what renders it an object of 
more than usual interest, is that M. Decandolle conjec- 
tures it must be more than 2000 years old. 
The wood of the Oriental Plane in the Levant and in 
Asia is used in carpentry, joinery, and cabinet-making. 
It is said to make beautiful furniture, on account of the 
smoothness of its grain, and its susceptibility of re- 
ceiving a high polish. 
Concerning our common Plane tree or Buttonwood, 
( Platanus occidentalism Dr. Darlington remarks in his 
Flora Cestrica, page 542: “ It makes a noble shade in 
front of houses where it has room to develope itself;” 
and he further remarks that “the wood is not much 
esteemed; but is occasionally sawed into joists and 
other lumber.” It is beginning to be considerably plant- 
ed as a shade tree on the side walks of the streets in 
several of the large towns of the United States, and 
being seldom attacked by insects, and rarely elevating 
the pavements, it is exceedingly well calculated for this 
useful purpose in a climate subject to such ardent sum- 
mer heats; but, if the Oriental Plane would answer the 
same purpose, and it is easily propagated, we should 
not only possess an ornamental but also a useful tree , 
as it regards the wood. The finest specimens of trees 
of this species in the vicinity of Philadelphia, are those 
round the Pennsylvania Hospital, which were planted 
about the year 1760. 
