Cheetnut-TBEE ("|iQ*l9, arwMn' ; Chald. 2^^^, Sept. TrXdravoc [but in fizek. i\dTti\ Vulg.ptoanttt), mentioned among the "speckled rods*' which Jacob placed in the watering-troughs before the sheep (Gen. XXX, 87): its grandeur is indicated in Exek. xxxi, 8 (as well as in Ecclus. xxiv, 19), as one of the trees to which the Assyrian empire in its strength and beauty is likened, it being there noted for its magnificence, shooting its high boughs aloft. This description agrees well with the plane^ree {Platamu OrieiUa&$\ which Is adopted by the above ancient translators, to which mod- em critical opinion inclines, and which actually grows in Palestine (see Bitter, Erdk. xi, 511 sq.). The henk, the mapU, and the ehettmti have been adopted, in differ- ent modem versions, as representing the Hebrew oT' ffion, but scarcely any one now doubts that it means the pkme^ee. It may be remarked that this tree is in Genesis associated with others — ^the willow and the pop- lar— ^whose habits agree with it; they are all trees of the low grounds, and love to grow where tiie scnl is rich and humid. This is strikingly illustrated by the fict that Russel {N. H. of Aleppo, i, 47) expressly names the plane, the willow, and the poplar (along with the ash) as trees which grow in the same situations near Alep- po. But this congraity woi|ld be lost if the chestnut were understood, as that tree prefore dry and hilly sit- uations. There is a latent beauty abo in the passage in Ezekiel, where, in describing the greatness and gloiy of Assyria, the prophet says, **The <
CHESTNUT
241
CHESTNUT
not like Us bongfas, nor any tree in the garden of God like nnto him for beauty." This not only ezpresses the grandeur of the tree, bnt is angularly appropriate, from the fact that the plane-trees (ekenartj as they are called) in the plains of Assjrria are of extraordinary siae and beauty, in both respects exceeding even thoee of Palestine (comp. Plin. xii, 8 ; xvii, 18 ; Virg. Gmrff. W, 146; Cicero, Orai. i, 7; SUtius, 8yh. ii, ^ 89 sq. ; Martial, ix, 61, 5). Moreover, the etymology of the word connects it with D^9, aram\ ^^tohe naked^" and with Arab, ^aramj "to ttrip off bark," the shedding of its bark yearly being cliaracteristic of the plane-tree (see Hiller in Bierophjft. i, 402). The account here given is chiefly from Kitto's Cyclop, s. y. Armon.
Oriental Plane-tzee (Pfotemis OrientalU).
The Oriental plane-tree ranks in the Linnean class and order Monada Polifcmdria, and in the natural order among the PkUanacea. Westernmost Asia is its native country, although, according to Prof. Boyle, it extends as &r eastward as Cashmere. The stem is tall, erect, and covered with a smooth bark which annually frdls off. The flowers are small and scarcely distinguishable: they come out a little before the leaves. The wood of the plane- tree is fine-grained, hard, and rather brittle than tough ; when old, it is said to acquire dark veins, and to take the appearance of walnut- wood. In thoee situations which are frivorable to its growth, huge branches spread out in all directions from the massive trunk,in vested with broad, deeply-divided, and glossy green leaves. This body of rich foli- age, joined to the smoothness of the stem and the symmetry of the general growth, renders the plane- tree one of the noblest objects in the vegetable kingdom. It has now, and had also of old (Plin. NaL Hiat. xii, 1), the reputation of being the tree which most effectually excludes the sun's beams in smnmer and most readily admits them in winter, thus affording the best shelter frt>m the extremes of both seasons. For this reason it was planted near public buildings and palaces, a practice which the Greeks and Romans adopted ; and the former de- lighted to adorn with it their academic walks and places of public exercise. In the East the plane seems to have been considered sacred, as the oak was formerly in Britain. This distinction is in most countries award- ed to the most magnificent species of tree which it pro- duces (see Kitto, NaL Hi$i. of Paled, p. ccxlix). In Paleatine, fin* Instance, where the plane does not appear to have been very common, the terebinth seems to have posseeaed pre-eminence. See Oak. In the celebrated rtosy of Xerxes arresting the march of his grand army II.-Q
before a noble plane-tree in Lydia, that he might ren- der honor to it, and adorn its boughs with golden chains, bracelets, and other rich ornaments, the action was mis- understood and egregiously misrepresented by i£lian (Var. Hitt, ii, 14). The Oriental plane endures more northern clixnates well, and grows to a fine tree, but not to the enormous size which it sometimes attains in the East. Pausanias (L viii, c. 28) notices a noble plane in A madia, the planting of which was ascribed, by tra- dition, to Menelaus. Pliny {Nat, Hitt, xii, 1) mentions one in Lycia, in the trunk of which had gradually been fiormed an immense cavern, eighty feet in circumfer- ence. L. Mutianus, thrice consul and governor of the province, with eighteen other persons, often dined and supped commodiously within it. Caligula also had a tree of this sort at his viUa, near Yelitrae, the hollow of which accommodated fifteen persons at dinner, with a proper suite of attendants. The emperor called it ** kU neti;** and it is highly probable that his friend, Herod Agrippa, may occasionally have been one of the fifteen birds who nestled there along with him. A fine speci- men of the plane-tree was growing a few years ago (1844) at Yostitza, on the Gulf of Lepanto : it measured forty-six feet in circumference, according to the Rev. S. Clarlc, of Battersea, who has given an interesting ac- count of it in John's Forest Treet of Britain (xi, 206). The plane-trees of Palestine in ancient days were prob- ably more numerous than they are now, though mod- em travellers occasionally refer to them. Belon^Obe. • Simg, ii, 105), La Roque (Foy. de Syrie, p. 197-199)^ and others, mention the groves of noble planes which adorn the plain of Antioch ; and the last-named traveller re- cords a night's rest which he enjoyed under planes of great beauty in a valley of Lebanon (p. 76). Bucking- ham names them among the trees which line the Jab- bok {Travels tn Palestine, ii, 108). Evelyn (in his Syl- va) seems to ascribe the introduction of the plane-tree into England to the great Lord Bacon, who planted some which were still fiourishing at Yerulam in 1706. This was, perhaps, the first plantation of any note ; but it appears fh>m Turner's Herbal (published in 1551)