Arkansas Tree Database

Scientific name:

Platanus Occidentalis

Size:

75' tall by as wide, up to 150' tall

Leaves:

alternate, simple, 4"- 8" across, more or less 3-lobed, very coarsely toothed, with 3-5 main veins from base

Flowers:

inconspicuous

Fruit:

1 round, brown fruit 1" in diameter, hanging from long stalk

Fall Interest:

yellow to brown; deciduous

Culture:

sun; rich, deep, moist soil; very fast-growing and adaptable

Disease/Insect:

anthracnose

Use:

park tree; can be messy, dropping twigs and leaves; wood for furniture parts, flooring, butcher blocks

Cultivars:

Notes:

bark reddish to grayish brown and scaly near base, exfoliating mainly on upper trunk in patches to reveal white underbark; grows taller and to a larger trunk diameter than any other native hardwood; trunk cavities provide shelter for mammals and swifts and swallows; native to Arkansas riverbottoms