Platanus racemosa

Platanus racemosa, common name Californian plane tree, is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in riparian areas, canyons and floodplains. This large tree grows to 35 m in height with a trunk diameter of up to one meter. The trunk generally divides into two or more large trunks splitting into many branches. The bark is an attractive patchwork of white, tawny beige, pinkish gray, and pale brown, with older bark becoming darker and peeling away. The large palmately lobed leaves may be up to 25 cms wide and have three or five pointed lobes. New leaves are a bright translucent green and somewhat woolly. The tree is deciduous. The inflorescence is made up of a few spherical flower heads each around a centimeter wide. The female flower heads develop into spherical fruit clusters each made up of many hairy, maroon-red-woolly achenes. Our specimen was planted in 1992.

161.00 Location C8 Latitude; -38.402201045837 Longitude;146.054416509572

Measured on 31/7/2023
Circumference: 3.7 metres (tape measure)
Height: 31.0 metres (Nikon forestry pro)
Canopy spread: 21.7 by 19.1 metres (tape measure)