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Trees, Shown to the Children

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<h2>PLATE XII THE ORIENTAL PLANE</h2> There are two kinds of Plane tree which have come to us as strangers from foreign lands and have taken kindly to our cold climate and biting winds. These are the Oriental or Eastern Plane and the Occidental or Western Plane. The differences between them are not great, and the one which you will most easily remember is, that in the Oriental Plane the leaf stalk is green, whereas in the Occidental Plane tree it is purply red. We owe a special debt of gratitude to these Plane trees because they add beauty to so many of the dingy streets and squares in our big cities. <hr class="tb" /> Plate XII <ANTIMG src="images/i_089.jpg" alt="" /> THE ORIENTAL PLANE TREE 1. Oriental Plane Tree2. Leaf Spray3. Stamen Flower Balls 4. Seed Flower Balls5. Fruit <hr class="tb" /> The trunk of the Oriental Plane (1) is very smooth, and is usually ash-grey in colour; sometimes it is a very dark green. The outer layer of this trunk peels off in flakes, leaving large patches of greenish yellow, and these give the tree a curious speckled appearance. It is a tall, handsome tree, and if you look at it from a distance you see that the broad leaves group themselves into large masses with a wide space between each mass. This you can only see in a full-grown tree, and such trees are rarely met with in our dusty towns. On account of its leaves the Oriental Plane tree is frequently confused with the Sycamore, so you must notice carefully wherein they differ. The leaves (2) of the Oriental Plane are shaped like a hand with five sharply-pointed fingers, and each finger is cut all round into sharp teeth. The leaves are very smooth, and light, and fine, and are as thin as paper. They will lie quite flat if you lay them on a table. Each leaf is placed alternately with its neighbour on the twig, the second leaf growing on the opposite side of the twig, but a little further up than the first leaf. In the Sycamore you remember that the leaves grow in pairs placed exactly opposite each other, and that the second pair is always placed cross-ways to the first pair? These Oriental Plane leaves are so smooth that the rain easily washes all dust and soot from them, and this is why this tree manages to live in a city better than those which have crinkled, or hairy, or sticky leaves, which catch and keep the choking dust. In most trees the leaf buds are to be found growing between the base of the leaf stem and the twig which supports it. You will find no trace of such buds in the Oriental Plane; they are carefully hidden, and are tenderly protected in a marvellous way. You see that the base of the leaf stalk is considerably swollen, and that round it there is a line? If you gently pull the leaf, it will come apart from the twig at this line, and then you will discover that the swollen part of the leaf stalk is hollow, and is fitted like a cap over the tiny leaf bud, which is cosily sheltered within. This baby leaf bud is very sensitive to cold, and has many wrappings as well as the leaf cap. Its outer case is lined with sticky gum, which keeps out any damp; then come many small scales covered with soft fur, and inside these lie the tiny leaves, wrapped in a quilt of soft, silky down. This silky down is golden-brown in colour, and it remains on the young leaf till it is quite grown up. Sometimes the young buds are tempted by bright sunshine to throw off their winter coverings too soon. Then if biting frost comes they all die, and the tree will bear no more buds that year. The Plane tree gets its name from a Greek word which means a shield, and this name was given because its broad, flat leaves cast a very welcome shade in hot Eastern lands. In winter it is easy to recognize the Oriental Plane by its curious seeds. Hanging on the bare branches are strings of round bristly fruit-balls (5), three or four, or even five, threaded like large beads on a long slender chain. There are no seed balls such as these on the Sycamore tree, nor on its cousin the Field Maple. These seed balls are very interesting. Early in spring you see them dangling in the air, and you must pluck one of the green chains and examine its round beads. In one ball are grouped together bunches of purple stamens (3), which have a few pointed, dry scales at the base of each group. As soon as these stamens are ripe and their pollen dust has been blown away, these balls shrivel and fall off. But close beside them, on a similar green chain, are dangling the seed balls (4). Inside these balls there is a soft green cushion, and all over this cushion are stuck small green seeds shaped like pears, each with a tiny point like a stalk standing up at the top. After the stamen dust has fallen on these seeds they enlarge into a small hard nut, and a tuft of bristly down grows up from the base of each seed. The ball becomes a dark brown colour, and it dangles all winter on the tree; then in spring, when the leaves are ready to burst their coverings, these brown balls fall to the ground and the dry seeds are blown away, each seed floating in the air by the aid of its bristly down. In America these Eastern and Western Plane trees are called Button trees, because the seed balls resemble old-fashioned buttons. The wood of the Oriental Plane is used by piano-makers, coach-builders, and cabinet-makers. It is a light brown colour, and is said to be very tough. <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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