plane tree

Any of several trees of the genus Platanus, having ball-shaped fruit clusters and, usually, outer bark that flakes off in patches.

[plane + tree.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plane tree

plane

(Plants) any tree of the genus Platanus, having ball-shaped heads of fruits and leaves with pointed lobes: family Platanaceae. The hybrid P. × acerifolia (London plane) is frequently planted in towns. Also called: chenar or platan

[C14 plane, from Old French, from Latin platanus, from Greek platanos, from platos wide, referring to the leaves]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plane′ tree`

any of several trees of the genus Platanus, esp. P. occidentalis, the North American sycamore.

[1400–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

plane tree - any of several trees of the genus Platanus having thin pale bark that scales off in small plates and lobed leaves and ball-shaped heads of fruits

platan, sycamore

genus Platanus, Platanus - genus of large monoecious mostly deciduous trees: London plane; sycamore

lacewood, sycamore - variably colored and sometimes variegated hard tough elastic wood of a sycamore tree

London plane, Platanus acerifolia - very large fast-growing tree much planted as a street tree

American plane, American sycamore, buttonwood, Platanus occidentalis - very large spreading plane tree of eastern and central North America to Mexico

oriental plane, Platanus orientalis - large tree of southeastern Europe to Asia Minor

California sycamore, Platanus racemosa - tall tree of Baja California having deciduous bark and large alternate palmately lobed leaves and ball-shaped clusters of flowers

Arizona sycamore, Platanus wrightii - medium-sized tree of Arizona and adjacent regions having deeply lobed leaves and collective fruits in groups of 3 to 5

tree - a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms

Translations

sicomoro sicómoro

platano

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Look at the leaves of that plane tree. The birds are dead, but the plant flourishes.

A couple of small plane trees stood in the corner of the yard, and underneath them lay several pathetic little balls of fluffy feathers, with tiny feet uplifted.

View in context

Half a mile further, they came to a group of plane trees and the salmon-pink farmhouse standing by the stream which had been chosen as meeting-place.

View in context

Work began to chop down one large plane tree at the Old Haymarket site yesterday, while a bush was also removed.

Outrage as tree cut down for new bus hub scheme

Regular visitors to the Chelsea Flower Show may have experienced the effects of plane tree pollen.

How to Create a sneeze-free garden; Gardening

When officers from Middlesbrough Council's Streetscene Services department arrived at the scene, they found more than half of the trunk of the London Plane tree had been cut through.

Tree vandal fined PS1,000

People believe that the trace from the hoof of his horse named Duldul has survived to the present day on the trunk of a plane tree. Over time, the tree began to be honored as sacred, pilgrims began to come to it, and the people began to call it, like the horse of Imam, Duldul.

Charming legends surround old sycamore tree

honey locust, birch, sycamore (plane tree), walnut and willow.

Give young and thin-barked trees a winter wrap

I firmly believe that planting more trees is the answer, and not to cut them down as we saw last year by the felling of our beloved 140-year-old London plane tree in Broad Street.

Plant trees instead of hitting drivers; Letters

O ancie AN Oriental Plane tree of ancient Greek descent has been crowned Northern Ireland's Tree of the Year.

Greek tree gift leaves others in shade