A hybrid between the Oriental plane and the American sycamore, first noticed in a London nursery in the mid-1600s
London plane. Woodland Trust credits John Tradescant the younger with noticing it.
Nature · Trees
London plane
Neophyte (hybrid of 17th-century origin) · deciduous to 35 m · streets and city parks
Platanus × hispanica — Platanaceae
The great street tree of British cities, a hybrid between the Oriental plane and the American sycamore, thought to have arisen in a garden in the 17th century and planted across London from the late 18th. Its flaking, camouflage-patterned bark sheds pollution, and it copes with polluted air and compacted soil better than almost any other tree.
How to know it
How to spot them
- ▸Bark flakes off in large plates, leaving a patchwork of olive, grey and cream — a camouflage pattern
- ▸Leaves broad with five pointed lobes, alternate on the twig, leathery, turning orange-yellow in autumn
- ▸Round, spiky seed balls hanging on long stalks, breaking up over winter
- ▸Round buds with a leaf scar almost encircling them
- ▸Look-alike: sycamore (Acer) has leaves in opposite pairs, toothed edges and winged seeds; plane leaves are alternate with few teeth.
How to know it
Its bark flakes away in patches, giving a camouflage pattern and helping shed pollution
London plane.
Hanging spiky seed balls on long stalks break up over winter on this city street tree
London plane.
Its young leaves and seeds carry short hairs that can irritate the airways of asthmatics
London plane (Forest Research).
In Inner London it has the largest leaf area of any tree species, helping air quality and shade
London plane (London Tree Report, cited by the Woodland Trust).
Its maple-like leaves are alternate, not opposite, which separates it from a sycamore
London plane.
A branch-shedding fungal disease called massaria affects it in the UK, but the notifiable canker stain has not been found here
London plane.
Quick-fire facts
- •Platanus × hispanica, also called P. × acerifolia; the parents are Platanus orientalis (Oriental plane) and P. occidentalis (American sycamore)
- •Woodland Trust: one of each parent, planted in John Tradescant the younger's London nursery, cross-pollinated; the hybrid was noticed in the mid-17th century
- •Forest Research: generally thought to be of garden origin in Oxford in the 17th century, with disputed evidence for Spain
- •Planting across London began in the late 18th century
- •The bark is shed in flakes to dispel pollutants, which explains the camouflage pattern
- •Canker stain of plane (Ceratocystis platani) is notifiable and not known to be present in the UK (Forest Research)
- •Massaria disease (Splanchnonema platani) is present in the UK and causes large branches to die and drop
- •Forest Research notes interest in its potential as an alternative to ash on some sites
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Sources
- Woodland Trust — London plane (Platanus x hispanica)
- Forest Research — London plane (LPL)
- Forest Research — Canker stain of plane (Ceratocystis platani)