Tree of Platanus - Southern giant

The tree of the plane trees is the most famous southern tree, and not only because it can not be forgotten by seeing at least once. All Oriental literature - prose, poetry, folklore - is full of descriptions of this magnificent plant. The giant grows to 50 meters, and the trunk can be 20 meters in circumference. The crown is sprawling, dense, and the trunks are spotted, reminiscent of marble, as the crust continually exfoliates with large scales, exposing the gray-green smooth surface.
Of the 10 species of this tree, three are best known: the oriental platanus, or the plane tree, the western and southern platanus with maple leaves (hybrid). Chinara is most often found in the Caucasus, Central Asia (Pamir, Altai), in the Crimea. In Armenia there is a plane tree grove in the reserve, spreading over 50 hectares. There are often groups of plants along valleys of rivers, in gorges, and also among mountain forests.

The tree of the platan grows rapidly, stretching for 2 meters a year, lives a long time, individual copies - up to 2 thousand years. The leaves are maple- shaped, up to 20 cm wide. The crown is so thick that it can cover a plot of several square meters from the rain.

Platanus (photo above) grows well on moist, well drained soils, but it also tolerates good alkaline soils. What is interesting, survives and grows rapidly in large cities, without reacting to smoke, chemical emissions into the atmosphere. Therefore, it is recommended for landing in parks, along busy highways, to create shady avenues. Withstands frosts down to -15 ° С. Fruits are round, in diameter up to 2.5 cm, contain seeds-nuts. Propagated by seeds. Before planting, they are soaked for a day, and then planted to a depth of half a meter.

Platan tree is willingly cultivated in southern countries. They plant him at springs, irrigation ditches, near schools, temples. Recommended planting in oases, along irrigation canals.

The native land and area of growth of the western plane tree is North America. It is lower (the height is up to 35 meters), the seeds are smaller, the color of the bark is light green. Not afraid of frosts down to -35 ° С. Several platanov plantations have been created in the USA.

Platanus groves in the desert and near the roads say that people lived there, they were at home, there were caravanserais of the Great Silk Road. These beautiful trees are loved and revered by the Greeks, Persians, the peoples of Central Asia since antiquity mainly because they shelter from the heat, give shade and coolness. The third species is the Klenolist platanum. It grows in Ukraine, in Byelorussia, Central Asia. Cultivated for many millennia.

Old trees have even their own names. Scientists are trying to determine the age of individual giants in the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Assume an age of more than 2 thousand years. In Turkmenistan, not far from the capital, there is a giant with seven trunks. He is called the "Seven Brothers". In Azerbaijan, near the village. Agdash, a 500-year-old tree with four trunks grows. In the huge hollow was once a teahouse, which could hold up to ten people. And in Sherabad the platan was able to place even a small Muslim school among its trunks.

Now most often for planting choose the tree of the Platanus Klenolist - a hybrid of the eastern and the western. It is more wintery, it grows well in the middle belt, it quickly forms the crown. This is in general terms a plane tree - a southern beauty, striking with its proud grandeur.