they do not like cold wet soil or heavy clay; and a seedling which I brought in a bottle from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus in 1874, and planted out at Colesborne, has never been able to make good growth on account of the spring frosts, which cut it back in most seasons; and after thirty-three years' growth is only a stunted bushy tree 20 feet high.
The true oriental plane is always liable to be cut by frost at any age, and the branches and twigs assume a zigzag habit in consequence; but no tree succeeds better in the smoky air of towns than the maple-leaved or London plane, which is by far the largest tree in all the London squares, parks, and gardens, and seems likely to live to a very great age.
As regards hardiness, the plane seems, when of sufficient size, to endure the severest winter frosts, but requires a higher summer temperature than the north and west of England usually affords. In the south-east it is almost everywhere one of the finest exotic trees we have, but should not be planted on poor, stony land or in places exposed to cold winds.
The oriental plane is one of the very few trees that will grow on strongly alkaline soil, and has been successfully planted on the alkaline lands of the San Joaquin valley in California.[1]
Remarkable Trees
Var. typica.
Perhaps the finest specimen in England of the oriental plane is one which was planted by Bishop Gunning in the palace gardens at Ely, of which he was bishop from 1674 to 1684. This tree seemed to be failing some years ago, probably owing to a succession of dry seasons, and on the advice of Sir W. Thiselton Dyer was liberally top-dressed with good soil; the result was so good that when I saw it in 1903 it was in good health, and measured 104 feet high by 204 in girth. In 1896 it was found by the shadow to be about 100 feet high and 23 feet in girth at 3 feet from the ground. It forks at about ro feet, where an immense limb comes off, and the branches almost touch the ground all round. It grows on a low hill 50 to 60 feet above the level of the fens, but is sheltered on the north and east by buildings. On 15th October 1903 (a very wet season), the leaves were still quite green, but there was no fruit. Plate 174 is selected from several photographs taken at different times, as giving the best representation of this noble tree.
In the garden of the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Christ Church, Oxford, there is a very old plane, said to have been introduced by Dr. E. Pococke, who was Professor of Arabic in 1636. It is of no great height and throws out an immense limb close to the ground, where it measures 18 feet 10 inches in girth, When I saw it in September 1907, fruit of the last year was still hanging on it, together with full-grown fruit of the current year, and in some cases six or seven balls were borne on one peduncle.
At Hawsted Old Place, near Bury St. Edmunds, there are three very large
- ↑ Hilyard, Soils, 480 (1906).
