The London planetree got its name from extensive use in the city of London, England. It is a hardy hybrid of the American sycamore and the Oriental sycamore of southeastern Europe and Asia. John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I of England, planted an American sycamore in his personal garden from seed acquired in Virginia in 1637. It is thought that these trees cross-pollinated with the oriental sycamore to produce the London plane.
Platanus x acerifolia is considered by some to be the world's most reliable city tree. Art Plotnik in his Urban Tree Book describes it: "big, shady, and stylishly mottled, it has not only the charm to grace fashionable boulevards but also the grit to survive their poisons." The tree has also been embraced by Paris and Parisians which makes it a fitting tree to be on Liberty Island.
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