PLATA ITS ORIENTAL'S. Linn.
Doolb, . . . .
Pues.
Chinar, . PERN. I Bunk Bum, Bonin, PAN,. The oriental plane is indigenous in Asia Minor and in most of the countries of the Levant, and it ex tends into Kashmir. Ancient Greeks and Romans prized it particularly for the close shadow which its spreading foliage afforded, and they celebrated many of their festivities beneath its branches. A plane tree is mentioned as having existed in Lychun, in the hollow of which the Consul Licinius Mnsicanus gave a dinner to 19 friends. The wood is much like that of the beech, but it is less hard, has a finer and closer grain, and is more capable of receiving a good polish ; it is, however, very apt to warp and split, is not durable, and is frequently attacked by the worm. Immersing the wood in water for several years, is said to improve its quality. It is used for gun-stocks. According to Belon, the Greeks of Mount Athos were in the habit of making boats of a single piece, out of the trunks of the largest trees. It grows in Kashmir from seed, but re quires to be transplanted. Some re-planted by Akbar in A.D. 1588, when seen by Mr. Vigne in 1838 were 20 feet in circumference. Vigne had seen some grand trees in the valley opposite to Therapia on the Bosphorus ; and one near Avin, at the foot of the Elburz mountains, measured by him, was 64 feet in circumference. It appears
to be tolerably common in Afghanistan, and is frequently seen at villages, etc., in the Panjab Himalaya, extending sparingly east to the Beas, and up to 8300 feet in Ladakh. In the Kashmir valley it is abundant, the trees ranging up to 75 feet high ; and Dr. Stewart had noted seven or eight of more than 20 feet, the largest being 28 feet girth in Srinagar, Kashmir. The spread of two trees measured by him had a radius of 37 and 44 feet respectively in one direction. The finest grove in Kashmir is the Nazim Bagh, on the banks of the lake, near the city of Srinagar, which at one time consisted of 1200 noble trees, said to have been planted about the 17th century. To the eastward it does not thrive. In Kabul, where timber is scarce, Irvine states that it is the only material for gun-carriages ; and in Kash mir it furnishes part of the wood for making the small painted boxes.—Dr. Stewart ; Book of Trees, p. 152 ; Royle's Ill. p. 344 ; Hugel's Travels in Kashmir, p. 85 ; Cleghorn's Pan. Rep.