plane

The plane tree is very tolerant of pollution and is widely grown in towns. It has flaky bark and burrlike fruit resembling drumsticks.

In botany, any of several trees belonging to the plane family. Species include the oriental plane (P. orientalis), a favourite plantation tree of the Greeks and Romans, and the American plane or buttonwood (P. occidentalis). A hybrid of these two is the London plane (P. x acerifolia), with palmate, usually five-lobed leaves, which is widely planted in cities for its resistance to air pollution. (Genus Platanus, family Platanaceae.)

All species have hanging burlike fruits and can grow to 30 m/100 ft high.

plane

Flat surface. Planes are either parallel or they intersect in a straight line. Vertical planes, for example the join between two walls, intersect in a vertical line. Horizontal planes do not intersect since they are all parallel.

plane

In art, an imaginary surface for determining points in a drawing. The illusion of three-dimensional objects on a two dimensional surface can be created by using linear perspective. Firstly, a horizon line is established, with a vanishing point. All other lines parallel to the viewer recede, converge, and disappear at this vanishing point. These receding lines give the artist potential planes that are always in perspective. If the principles of linear perspective are followed, all horizontal and vertical lines will be parallel to one another, ensuring the planes or surfaces created within the work are not distorted.