London Plane Tree
Platanus hispanica
Tree up to 40 m tall with a crown up to 35 m wide. Bark flakes off at the bottom of stem in plates. Stem in places with flaked-off bark is of a yellowish olive colour. reinforced. Leaf blade with 5 lobes.
Shoots: Shoots are curved, greenish with brown hairs, but bald in autumn, lengthwise grooved. They get thicker under the terminal bud. Older shoots are grayish-brown.
Natural range: Planted often in cities.
Buds
Buds are ovate, covered by 1 grooved scale in hoodlike shape. They are greenish-brown, often greenish on one side, reddish on the other.
Leaves
Leaves are simple. The lamina is 5-lobed, divided approximately to the half of the leaf. The middle lobe is a little longer than wide. The petiole entirely encloses a bud; the bud is hidden inside the petiole.
Fruits
Achenes arranged in spherical aggregate fruits - so-called "heads". Heads are bristly, most frequently arranged in pairs. In spring they fall apart.
Poznámky
Likely to be a hybrid of Platanus occidentalis × Platanus orientalis.