Re: plane tree

you may be having trouble because in TX you'll hear it called Sycamore. If you actually want the specific tree called plane tree in Britain (and elsewhere?) I don't know how to help.

Keith For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit

London Planetree = Platanus x acerifolia American Sycamore = Platanus occidentalis

Unfortunately the American Sycamore is very susceptible to anthracnose, a fungal disease.

A preferred variety that is fairly disease resistant is Platanus x acerifolia "Bloodgood"

some sources are:

Be aware that plane trees are very messy, dropping fruit and bark all around them. Also, the wood is brittle; they drop twigs and branches quite readily.

IIRC, London has banned any further planting of them because of the litter they produce.

The American sycamore, P. occidentalis, has the same bad features.

J. Del Col

Many urban planners like them because they drop the fruit with the leaves in a well defined period, so are easy to clean up around.

The branches that drop off are called by arborists as self-pruning.

This may be true in some areas, but in my community they are notorious for keeping their brown hard plasticky fall leaves for several months and dropping them slowly from October to mid December. However, I do think their patchy light grey bark and fairly light green leaves are very striking, and they make a dramatic, long-lived avenue tree. So, it's something of a trade-off. Maples are messy for a shorter period - but with their dark brown/grey bark are not as striking in the landscape. One nice advantage of London plane trees is that they can exist on much less water than many large decidious trees. (Or else they do a better job of finding it in sewer pipes...lol) .In my western climate, that's a definite advantage.