Walk: the gardens of the Abbaye de la Cambre
Identity
Category :
Arbre remarquable
Latin name :
Platanus x hispanica
French name :
Platane à feuille d’érable
Dutch name :
Gewone plataan
English name :
London plane
Family :
Platanaceae
Height :
21 m
Targeted height :
This species can grow up to 40 m
Diameter of the crown :
20 m
Trunk circumference :
506 cm
Expected circumference :
800 cm
Expected longevity :
Can live for 300–500 years
Origin / Indigenous
Crossed in Spain or southern France around 1650
Favorite soil :
light, fresh, fertile
Favorite climate
Temperate warm, but also temperate fresh
Usefulness and services of the tree :
Enhances the landscape :
+++
Enhances the biodiversity :
++
Provide oxygen :
+++
Purify the air :
+++
Filter the water :
+
Prevents flooding :
Stores carbon :
+++
Softens the climate :
+++
Limits soil erosion :
Does good, heals :
+
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=652079
Features and characters of the individual
This duo of London plane trees with leaves like sycamore maples keep watch behind the Abbey de la Cambre buildings. They have grown in an understated but determined way, sheltered by the high stone walls of l’lnstitut Géographique National. Their crowns form a huge canopy over a rectangular lawn, held up by only two large trunks – like two columns. It creates an intimate space that can be reached by a small entrance carved in a high hedge. Here, in summer, walkers settle at the foot of the trunks to enjoy the shade and tranquillity provided by their thick foliage. The leaves both filter and reflect the sun’s rays. By evening, these two plane trees provide a strange golden light that illuminates the stone walls and trunks with a golden glow, like the one enveloping the walls of Jerusalem.
