The sycamore tree is the most famous southern tree, and not only because it cannot be forgotten once seen. All the literature of the East - prose, poetry, folklore - is full of descriptions of this magnificent plant. A giant grows up to 50 meters, and the girth of the trunk can be 20 meters. The crown is spreading, dense, and the trunks are spotty, reminiscent of marble, as the bark is constantly peeling off in large scales, exposing a gray-green smooth surface.
Of the 10 species of this tree, three are best known: eastern plane tree, or plane tree, western and southern plane tree with maple leaves (hybrid). Chinara is most often found in the Caucasus, in Central Asia (Pamir, Altai), in the Crimea. In Armenia, in the reserve there is a plane tree grove, spread over 50 hectares. Groups of plants are often found along river valleys, in gorges, and also among mountain forests.
The sycamore tree grows rapidly, stretching 2 meters per year, lives for a long time, some specimens - up to 2 thousand years. Maple-shaped leaves, up to 20 cm wide. The crown is so dense that it can cover an area of several square meters from rain.
Plane tree (photo above) grows well in moist, well-drained soils, but tolerates alkaline soils well. Interestingly, it survives and grows rapidly in large cities, not reacting to smoke, chemical emissions into the atmosphere. Therefore, it is recommended for planting in parks, along busy highways, to create shady alleys. Withstands frost down to -15°C. The fruits are round, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, contain nut seeds. Propagated by seeds. Before planting, they are soaked for a day, and then landed to a depth of half a meter.
The sycamore tree is readily cultivated in southern countries. They plant it near springs, ditches, schools, temples. Recommended planting in oases, along irrigation canals.
The birthplace and habitat of the western plane tree is North America. It is lower (height up to 35 meters), the seeds are smaller, the color of the bark is light green. Not afraid of frost down to -35°C. Several sycamore plantations have been established in the US.
Plane groves in the desert and along the roads say that people lived there, there were houses, there were caravanserais of the Great Silk Road. These beautiful trees have been loved and revered by the Greeks, Persians, and peoples of Central Asia since ancient times, mainly because they shelter from the heat, give shade and coolness. The third species is maple leaf. It grows in Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia. Cultivated for many millennia.
Old trees even have their own names. Scientists are trying to determine the age of individual giants in the Mediterranean and Central Asia. The age is assumed to be over 2 thousand years. ATIn Turkmenistan, not far from the capital, there is a giant with seven trunks. They call him "The Seven Brothers". In Azerbaijan, near the village Agdash, a 500-year-old tree with four trunks grows. In a huge hollow there was once a teahouse that could accommodate up to ten people. And in Sherabad, the plane tree was able to place even a small Muslim school among its trunks.
Now most often for plantings they choose a maple tree - a hybrid of eastern and western. It is more winter-hardy, grows well in the middle lane, forms a crown faster. Such is the plane tree in general terms - a southern handsome man, striking with his proud grandeur.
