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Heritage Trees
Oriental Plane, Platanus orientalis
1762
The oriental plane is believed to have been brought to England
in about 1562, although John Evelyn believed it
was earlier. It was reported that the finest
specimen known belonged to Bishop Gunning at Ely in 1674.
It seems likely that the oriental plane at Kew came from a neighbouring
estate at Whitton which belonged to the Duke of Argyll, although
they were widely available from nurseries. It is believed that
quite a few trees were brought from the Argyll estate at Whitton
to supplement the new arboretum being laid out at Kew. Argyll certainly
had oriental plans and the date of the Kew plane is widely believed
to be 1762, when the Argyll trees arrived. This tree sits next
to the position where the east wall of the White House once stood,
on the lawn in front of Kew Palace. To be placed in such a position
suggests their belief that the tree may not have been fully hardy
and needed the protection of the wall of the main house. There
is a hint from previous research that this tree was planted by
the previous owners of Kew (the Capell and Molyneux families),
but without tree dating or contemporary evidence it seems more
plausible to believe the plant came from Whitton and was placed
by the White House in 1762 as a young tree. Early map evidence suggests
this was one of three trees planted in a row.
Find out more
Search
Kew's electronic Plant Information Centre for scientific
information about Platanus orientalis
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