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Tall, spreading branches covered in flaking gray and tan bark, the Asian planetree has large, teethed, maple-like leaves. A native of southeastern Europe and southern Asia, it is a tall, stately deciduous tree that historically gained favor as a shade tree in the Middle East.
The leaves emerge in spring a bright, pale green, unfurling into a large, semi-glossy blades with narrowed, many-teethed lobes that number between three and five. The flower clusters appear at the time the leaves first emerge. Blossoms are either male or female, colored a rusty salmon, and appear in different clusters across the branches. Small, golf ball-sized fruits develop afterwards, first green and then becoming light brown in color, borne in groups of three to six, and decorate the branches well into winter. The fall leaf color is usually golden yellow, or accented with tan. The attractive, rough and knobby bark peels off in rounded patches in a mosaic of gray, tan, and brown.
Grow the Asian planetree on fertile, moist, deep soils in full sun for its finest growth and stature. It does demonstrate considerable tolerance for drier and the more shallow soils associated with residential suburbs, too. As it attains a huge mature size, do not grow it too closely to buildings but favor it with a spacious locale in the landscape. It is a specatular shade tree for the lawn or to line spacious avenues. In times of drought, or in regions with long, hot summers, the foliage can brown in late summer, diminishing any fall display. Moreover, the large, dry, fallen leaves or fruits could be considered annoying in more pristine neighborhoods or near sidewalks and parked cars. (source: learn2grow.com)
Genus - Platanus
Species - Orientalis
Common name - Oriental Planetree
Pre-Treatment - Required
Hardiness zones - 7 - 9
Height - 65'-95' / 20 - 29 m
Spread - 70'-100' / 21 - 30 m
Plant type - Tree
Vegetation type - Deciduous
Exposure - Full Sun, Partial Sun
Growth rate - Fast
Soil PH - Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Soil type - Clay, laom, Sand, well drained
Water requirements - Drought tolerant, average water
Landscape uses - Feature Plant, Shade Trees, Street Trees
Germination rate - 84%
Bloom season - Spring
Leaf / Flower color - Green / Dark Salmon, Bronze
| Useful Info | |
| Germination | 1. Fill a 1-gallon plastic bag with 5 cups of sharp river sand. Drizzle water over the sand while mixing it by hand to evenly moisten it. Bury the sycamore seeds in the moistened sand. Seal the bag. 2. Store the sycamore seeds in the moistened sand for 90 days inside a refrigerator to cold stratify them and prompt germination. Remove the seeds from cold storage once the growing containers are prepared. 3. Dig up soil from the garden bed where the sycamore trees will be planted using a garden spade. Mix three parts garden soil with one part sharp river sand to create a suitable planting mix for the sycamore seeds. Fill one 10-inch nursery container with the soil and sand mixture for each sycamore tree desired. 4. Sow two sycamore seeds in each pot to a depth of 1/2 inch. Water each pot to a depth of 3 inches. 5. Place the pots outdoors in a sunny spot for the winter. Moisten the soil only if little or no rain falls for a long period of time. 6. Watch for signs of germination the following spring when outdoor air temperatures rise above 65 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 days. Move the pots to a spot with dappled shade during the hottest part of the day once the seedlings reach 1 inch in height. 7. Thin the sycamore seedlings to one per pot once they grow a set of mature leaves. Remove the smaller or less robust seedling. 8. Keep the sycamore seedlings in their pots until they reach 1 foot in height, then plant them out in a permanent bed with a soil pH of between 4.5 and 6.5. Info source: eHow.com |
