I walked a path by this big tree, a kind of sycamore. A man who worked with trees was thinking this might be the oldest and largest London Plane. So its foliage is the green here. The trunk has the typical mottled bark of our sycamores back in the states. Here Planatus is called Plane Tree and many line the boulevards of the cities. I like the rural feel of Ely, named after the eels in the fen waters. Alas, I looked in town to find a place to eat one for lunch, and not a pub even with eel pate'. Thinking of Ely Minnesota and our wonderful BWCA and Quetico Wilderness on Turtle Island..
Concerning the tree,It is hard to find details for THIS tree. It is overshadowed in importance by another tree nearby, of certain date, 1680. Two Plane trees were planted by Bishop Gunning and are the oldest trees of this hybrid. One is the largest, though not quite the tallest, London plane in England. This tree appears to be of about the same date. I don't know whether this is the second tree mentioned in the registers, or a third. I also cannot say for sure whether his is indeed a London Plane or a different variety.
ReplyDeleteMany of the UK's oldest and finest trees date from the late 1600s and were planted by the aristocracy after the end of the Parliamentarian period and the reinstatement of the Monarchy with Charles II. Nobody knows yet what the lifespan of a London Plane is; none of them has yet reached extreme old age. The maximum height is probably about 120 feet.