Platanus ×hispanica

London plane tree, London Plane Tree

Family: Platanaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

London plane tree is a naturalized tree found in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, Sacramento Valley, and northern California coastal ranges in cultivated areas and along waterways at elevations of 16 to 155 meters. Flowering from March to May, this tree produces inconspicuous green flowers in rounded heads. Growing to an impressive 12 to 24 meters tall with an erect form, it features a distinctive light gray outer bark that reveals a green-cream inner bark. Its leaves are approximately 11 to 18 centimeters long, roughly round or elliptic in shape, with deciduous stipules up to 2 centimeters long. The tree produces spherical fruit heads 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters wide, with elongated achenes that have persistent basal hairs.

Habitat: In cultivation, may persist from old homesteads, escapes to waterways

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 16-155 m

Bioregions: CaRF, n SNF, ScV

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.