Oriental Plane Tree; Oriental Sycamore
Platanus orientalis · Platanaceae · 버즘나무
How to spot it
Cream-mottled bark and fruit balls in clusters of 3 to 6. It can be hard to tell from the London plane, and the two hybridize naturally.
Look
- Leaves
- Large dark green leaves 10 to 25 cm wide, palmately cut into 5 to 7 lobes like a maple leaf, with coarse teeth; they turn dull yellowish brown in autumn.
- Flowers
- Small reddish flowers open in round clusters in April and have no ornamental value.
- Fruit
- Long-stalked, spiny, round fruit balls about 3.5 cm across hang in groups of 3 to 6, ripening brown in October and staying until early winter. Many achenes are packed together, then break apart, and the seeds with fluffy hairs spread by wind.
- Bark
- Bark peels in brown, gray and cream patches; the cream bark of mature trees helps identification from a distance.
Where it grows
- Native to
- From southeastern Europe to Asia Minor (western Asia); regarded as the largest shade tree in its native region.