Platanus orientalis
Specifications
Family
Platanaceae
Species
Platanus orientalis L.
oriental plane tree
Description
The sapwood is reddish and the heartwood is pinkish-brown, fine-textured and straight-grained, with conspicuous medullary rays and evident symmetrical grains in the radial sections. The density varies from 0.43 to 0.72. Drying must be carried out with great care to avoid splitting and cracking.
Plant morphology
It can reach 35 m in height and 1.50 m in diameter. The bark is gray and smooth, divided into thin plates with rounded edges. The crown is rounded and dense. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, palmately lobed with five lobes, with a sinuate-dentate margin and a cuneate or sub-cordate base, initially velvety and then glabrous. The fruits are typical flower heads of numerous, tiny, hairy achenes.
Natural occurrence
Countries of origin and distribution
Asia Minor to Uzbekistan and Eastern Mediterranean countries. Grows wild in some areas of Sicily, hybridized and widely cultivated elsewhere.
Habitat and ecology
Heliophilous species, it prefers fresh and fertile alluvial soils.
Uses
Use class
CU1
CU2
CU3
CU4
CU5
Application areas
It is employed in carpentry, packaging, furniture and interior design, craft work, decorative veneers.
Threats and Conservation
Threats
It is threatened by habitat loss, sometimes due to excessive logging, urban sprawl, riverbank overgrazing, and agricultural land expansion. It is also susceptible to attack by the fungal pathogen Ceratocystis platani, which causes the plant to die.
Conservation measures
Individuals are preserved in 100 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017) and seeds in the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens.
IUCN Red List
IUCN
DD - Data deficient - Insufficient data
CITES. Year of assessment
CITES
2017
1975
2050
CITES Italia • Ultimo aggiornamento
2017
Not present.
Technical data
Aesthetic characteristics
Grain
Slightly obvious
Texture
Fine
Physical and mechanical properties
Density
ρ
ρ
570
kg/m3
Radial shrinkage
Rad. sh.
Rad. sh.
Medium
Tangential shrinkage
Tang. sh.
Tang. sh.
Medium
Bending strength
M.O.R.
M.O.R.
79
MPa
Durability characteristics
Fungal resistance
Not very durable
Insect resistance
Not resistant
Miscellaneous
Very widespread in parks and gardens, as well as naturalized, is Platanus hyspanica, the stabilized hybrid between P. orientalis and P. occidentalis (from North America).