London and other writers some years ago stated that the American buttonwood or plane-tree was attacked with the same disease in England as had affected it here. The following remarks of Sir W. Hooker, seem to show that the P. occidentalis is rare in England, P. acerifolia having probably been mistaken for it: "I think, however, we have arrived at the conclusion that P. acerifolia, though nearest in botanical characters to P. occidentalis, is nevertheless quite distinct, readily distinguished by those who have paid attention to it, and not introduced from any part of the New World; that its actual locality is not yet ascertained, and that we want a clearly defined specific character derived from flowers and fruit as well as the foliage, and taken from the living plant; and further, we want to know if there are any old trees of true P. occidentalis in the country. Our own rich herbarium of native species of Platanas contains P. orientalis, L. (and the only one of the Old Worlds P. occidentalis, L. (known by the short and broad lobes to the leaves, and the fertile heads of flowers being solitary), P. mexicana, moricand (perhaps too near P. occidentalis), and P. racemosus of Nuttall (P. Californica, Benth.)].