Plane Trees

A "platane" with Lake Geneva in the background

The platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. In French they are known as "platanes".

They are all large trees to 30–50 m tall, deciduous (except for P. kerrii), and are mostly found in riparian or other wetland habitats in the wild, though proving drought tolerant in cultivation. The hybrid London Plane has proved particularly tolerant of urban conditions.







They are known as planes in Europe, and as sycamores in North America. (Outside North America, the name "sycamore" refers to either the fig Ficus sycomorus, the plant originally so named, or the Great, or Sycamore Maple, Acer pseudoplatanus.)

In the autumn all the leaves fall off and the small branches or limbs are cut back to the larger branches. The trees look almost dead.





In the spring the leaves return.