The tree in front of my house right now (you’ll have to imagine the roaring)
Hurricane Sandy is nearly in Brooklyn: the sky looks like a sepulcher and dark winds are roaring down the street. The gale is howling in the huge London plane trees outside which are swaying and bending as though they were bamboo. This is nothing to sneer at since trees are nearly a meter (three feet) in diameter and twice as tall as the two and three story houses. The trees are probably as old as the neighborhood—which was built about a century ago. Hopefully the trees and I will all be standing tomorrow and not floating out in the Atlantic on our way towards Newfoundland.
A London plane tree (Platanus × acerifolia) at Vassar College
For purely academic reasons I looked up London plane trees and I was gratified to discover that they are “fairly wind resistant.” I was also cheered to learn that the trees are a strange hybrid of Eurasian plane trees and American sycamores. Only in 17th century Europe were the new world trees planted in proximity to their old world relatives. The tree loving English realized what a beautiful and hardy tree this is and they began planting the hybrid plane trees along streets.
The trees really are beautiful. Like the magnificent rainbow eucalyptus, London Plane trees have mottled bark albeit in muted splotches of cream, gray, brow, and verdigris rather than in insanely colorful stripes. The trees can grow to 35 meters in height and can be up to 3 meters in circumference–in fact there is (hopefully still) one that big by a nearby church.
London plane trees at Union Square Park (NYC)
Resistant to pollution and able to survive with highly compacted roots, the London plane tree is a perfect ornamental city tree—so much so that the NYC Parks Department tries to limit its planting since the hybrid sycamore/plane makes up more than 10% of the trees in the city. Ironically the logo of the NYC Parks Department is a London plane tree leaf crossed with a Maple leaf.
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The London plane tree is said to have beautiful wood which looks like freckled pink lace. The tree also grows ample crops of spiky seed balls which are eaten by squirrels and birds. The true worth of the tree is as a magnificent living specimen tree. I am devoutly wishing for the best for the plane trees on my street (and not only because they tower over the stone house I am inside).
ferrebeekeeper 
5 comments
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October 29, 2012 at 11:09 PM
admiralpegleg
Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. I live on Marlborough with a forked London right out front. Half the tree hovers over the house. A tree right behind me on Rugby fell around 3:30 then at 8 a tree came down onto my neighbor’s next door. Both appear NOT to be planes but I’ve still been so worried. Now I’m hoping I can get some sleep. Thanks!
November 6, 2012 at 12:54 AM
Wayne
All the trees on my street made it through the storm–although a limb fell off and crushed a car. I hope you had the same luck! Ditmas Park seems to have been relatively fortunate.
October 31, 2012 at 6:47 AM
Beatrix
Interesting.
There are quite a few varieties of Platanus worldwide.
Platanus racemosa (California Sycamore) was all I was familiar with in my native California.
I was quite surprised to find it had a gargantuan cousin in the western Himalayas- Platanus orientalus, the Oriental plane, or by it’s local name in Kashmir – the Chinar. The Chinar tree is quite famous in the Kashmir valley, there is one dated to be 627 yrs old in the Badgam district & Chinars feature quite prominently in many of the ancient Mughal gardens such as Shalimar in Srinagar. The leaves of the Chinar can be nearly a foot across & appear in much Kashmiri crafts & artwork. We have one in our courtyard at our family home in Srinagar too.
November 6, 2012 at 12:52 AM
Wayne
Ooh! That sounds like a lordly tree! I am looking forward to researching it.
November 4, 2014 at 9:11 PM
Rex
With all do respect, the NYC urban park photo showing plane trees was shot in Bryant Park. (not Union Square Park) Thank you for your wonderful account of the plane trees! One of my favorite trees.