Trees Planet: Platanus × hispanica – P. × acerifolia

General Information

Common Name	London Plane
Scientific Name	Platanus × hispanica, Platanus × acerifolia
Sun Tolerance	Full Sun
Height	30 - 50 m (100 - 180 ft)
Spread	6 -9 m (20 - 30 ft)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Spring
Color	Green, Yellow
Flower Color	Green, Dark-Red
Type	Tree
Native	Europe, USA

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Rosidae
Order	Proteales
Family	Platanaceae
Genus	Platanus
Species	P. × hispanica, P. × acerifolia

London Plane Tree

London Plane is now generally accepted as being a hybrid between P. occidentalis and P. orientalis, probably originating in the mid seventeenth century. It is well known as a stately, tall, hardy and vigorous street tree with peeling bark, knobbly trunk and curved or crooked branches. In summer its broad leaves cast a gaily dappled shade and the tree withstands lopping and tolerates impure atmospheres.

The shoots are stout and brown, with alternate winter buds which are reddish and covered by a single closed scale. The leathery leaves are set alternately. On opening they are khaki color, but later they are glossy green on top, paler underneath. They are palmately veined, usually with five lobes and have stipules united to form a long tube-like stalk.
The globular flower heads (‘bobbles’ or seed balls) dangle on long stalks in June, male and female being separate but on the same tree. The minute individual stalkless green flowers radiate from a central base. The developed fruits are clustered to form a ball, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, spiky with the remains of the styles. These brown ‘bobbles’ remain dangling on the otherwise bare tree throughout the winter, and break up in the following spring, releasing the individual fruit which resembles a tiny four-sided club, with the style projecting from the top and a parachute-like ring of hairs attached to the bottom.

The bark is thin and smooth, light greenish or yellowish-green in color, and flakes off annually in irregular plates, particularly during late summer, to disclose the much paler inner bark of green, yellow and brown. When the tree is very big, the bark becomes dark grey and finely fissured. The flaking gives the trunk a dappled or mottled appearance, not unlike the coloring of a giraffe. The wood is pinkish-brown in color without any distinct heartwood. It is a useful veneer timber and when quartered is often called ‘lacewood’. The tree is very rarely planted commercially. Propagation is by seeds, cuttings, or by layering.