Skip to the profile
THE GARDEN SAGEA library of living things
Trees & woodland lore · Western North Carolina field companion

Exclamation! London planetree

Platanus x acerifolia

Platanus x acerfolia. Taxon reference; photograph alone does not establish a named cultivar.
Platanus x acerfolia. Taxon reference; photograph alone does not establish a named cultivar.☀ Full sun · ◐ Part sun or part shadeLiné1 ↗ · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; no diagnostic content altered.

Anthracnose-resistant urban shade selection; still requires a large soil volume.

Sun Exposure
Full sun–part shade
MATURE HEIGHT (FT)
50–60
MATURE WIDTH (FT)
35–45
BLOOM SEASON
Spring
Open in the illustrated book →

Get to know this plant.

Identification clue 1

Broad alternate lobed leaves

Identification clue 2

Exfoliating cream-and-gray bark

Identification clue 3

Seed balls often in pairs

Read the leaves

Palmately lobed blades resemble sycamore; compare several mature leaves and fruit stalks.

More growing details

Read the bark

Patchwork exfoliating bark exposes pale cream, gray, and olive areas.

Fruit & seed

Round seed balls often occur in pairs; numbers vary, and the Exclamation! selection may fruit sparingly.

Winter character

Mottled bark supports the plane-tree group; exact hybrid and cultivar identity needs provenance.

Origin & place

An introduced garden species or horticultural hybrid; study it as part of WNC landscapes rather than assume it belongs to the native mountain flora.

Compare with American sycamore

American sycamore usually carries one ball per stalk. Use several stalks; this difference is not absolute.

WNC Notes

Anthracnose-resistant urban shade selection; still requires a large soil volume.

Sun Exposure

Full sun–part shade

MATURE HEIGHT (FT)

50–60

MATURE WIDTH (FT)

35–45

BLOOM SEASON

Spring

BLOOM COLOR

Catkins

FALL / WINTER COLOR

Yellow-brown

Wet-Soil Tolerance

Moderate–high

Drought Tolerance

Low

LOOK CLOSELY

Two views, a closer look.

Place two photographs beside one another. Compare the overall plant with leaves, flowers, or bark when those views are available. Captions identify what each photograph actually shows. Images are not at the same scale; species references may show different cultivars.

Platanus x acerfolia. Taxon reference; photograph alone does not establish a named cultivar.
Platanus x acerfolia. Taxon reference; photograph alone does not establish a named cultivar.☀ Full sun · ◐ Part sun or part shadeLiné1 ↗ · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; no diagnostic content altered.
Exfoliating bark of London planetree, cultivar Suttneri — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.
Exfoliating bark of London planetree, cultivar Suttneri — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.☀ Full sun · ◐ Part sun or part shadeCathy DeWitt ↗ · CC BY 4.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; full original composition retained.
Fruit — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.
Fruit — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.☀ Full sun · ◐ Part sun or part shadePlant Image Library ↗ · CC-BY-SA 2.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; full original composition retained.

Your margin of the garden.

Saved only in this browser on this device. Export your notes from My garden in the library.