Platanus ×acerifolia (London plane tree, "Momijibasuzukakenoki")

Japanese name: モミジバスズカケノキ （紅葉葉鈴懸木）
Scientific name: Platanus ×acerifolia

[Overview]
A deciduous tree up to 35 m tall with a trunk 1–2 m in diameter.
The bark peels off in irregular scales, giving a mottled pattern of three colors: dark brown, gray-green and greenish white.
The branches spread horizontally, giving a rounded crown.
Young branches are at first densely covered with stellate hairs.
The leaves are alternate and palmately 3–5-lobed, about 10–18 cm long and 10–22 cm wide; at first they are densely covered with stellate hairs on both sides, but become hairless except in the vein axils and on the veins on the underside.
The leaf incisions reach about 1/2 the length of the leaf, and the lobes are slightly elongated triangular-ovate with coarsely incised margins.
The base of the petiole is swollen and covers the winter bud.
The leaves turn yellow in autumn.
There are male and female flowers, both in spherical inflorescences that hang from long stalks.
The male inflorescences are about 1 cm across and yellowish, with stalks about 2 cm long.
The female inflorescences are about 1.5 cm across and reddish, usually 2 and occasionally 3 per stalk, with stalks about 10–15 cm long.
The fruit is a spherical aggregate of achenes, usually 2 and occasionally 3 hanging together, and it persists for a long time.
The seeds are dispersed by wind.

[History]
It is thought to be a hybrid between Suzukakeno-ki and Amerika-suzukakeno-ki.
It was introduced to Japan in the Meiji era.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, fertile, moderately moist soil, but it adapts well to its environment, so as long as it is sunny it is not particular about soil and grows well even in poor soil.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply organic fertilizer around the plant as fertilizer in winter.
Pests and diseases include the fall webworm and the longhorn beetle larva (teppo-mushi).

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