194 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
black patches. It is a goodly-sized tree for England, but a mere 
dwarf compared with those of the warm forests of California, where 
it attains ioo feet in height. It is a close ally of the Arbutus found 
at Killarney. 
One of the best specimens of the remarkable Maidenhair tree in 
the British Isles stands near the Sun Temple. It was introduced in 
1754, and was at one time trained upon a wall that 
Maidenhair s t 0 od here. It is a male, and is now 63 feet high and 
h'l \ ) over 9 °f trunk. The tree, a last repre- 
‘ sentative of one of the most ancient types of plants, 
and long unknown in a wild state, has, it is believed, been lately 
discovered wild in the forests of Central Yezo and in Western 
China. Previously it was only known as a cultivated tree, chiefly 
in the vicinity of temples in Japan. 
The common Oaks in Kew do not constitute so notable and promi- 
nent a feature of the woods as the beeches, but a few 
Oak ( Quercas ^ ne examples are to be found. The largest is growing 
pedunculata). nor th-east end of the Lake. At five feet from 
the ground its trunk is 17 feet 4 inches in circumference. 
The true Oriental Plane is a comparatively rare tree. The tree 
so common in the streets of London is Plaianus acerifolia. Close 
to the Old Orangery (No. III. Museum) there is a 
very good example of the true P. orientalis, notable 
for its short, thick, finely buttressed trunk, which at 
its narrowest is 14 feet 6 inches in girth, for its 
ample spreading head, and for its handsomely cut leaves. The 
Oriental plane is one of the longest-lived of trees. On the banks of 
the Bosphorus stand trees under which the knights of Godfrey de 
Bouillon took shelter more than 800 years ago. 
Close to the Sun Temple is growing a specimen of Persimmon 
which is probably the finest in the British Isles. It 
came in all likelihood from Whitton, and was planted 
where it stands in 1762. It is remarkable for the 
rough, picturesque bark on the trunk. It is now 
65 feet high, and the trunk is 5 feet 6 inches in circumference. 
The grassy terrace near the river between the Palace and the 
Brentford Gates is known as Queen Elizabeth’s Lawn. It derives its 
name from an ancient Elm which stands near its centre. Tradition 
says that this tree was planted there by Queen Mary I., and that 
Oriental Plane 
(Platanus 
orientalis ). 
Persimmon 
(. Diospyros 
’virginiana ). 
