111. Zig-Zag Plane

An unusual plane tree in Oxford may be an example of a nineteenth-century cultivar.

On the corner of St Giles’ and Keble Road is a strikingly unusual London plane with its branches akimbo. There are many variations of London planes, the ‘Baobab’ having a particularly memorable form. This one, too, with its zig-zag branches, is distinct. Could it be a long-forgotten Victorian cultivar? If so, it needs a name. ‘Spiralis’, perhaps.

Species details

London plane
Platanus × hispanica ‘Spiralis’

Where to find it 

St Giles’, Oxford OX1 3LE
///crisis.cube.chill | 51.759258, -1.25961

Spiralis plane notes

Before about 1870, London planes were not common, and nor would they have been known as London planes – that was a name they acquired after they had been planted so abundantly in London in the late 1800s, that they became synonymous with the city. There are old trees in London and elsewhere which attest to their having been around since the end of the seventeenth century, and there are some, like those in Berkeley Square in London that we know were planted in 1789.

But today, right across Britain and Ireland, there are millions of hybrid London planes, and there are dozens of recognisable types among this huge population. Few of these have formally been recognised as cultivars however, but there are people who are beginning to unpick the legacy of nineteenth century plantings. The ‘Baobab’ plane, although not a recognised cultivar, is one that many now think of as a cultivar, and its name, ‘Baobab’ now seems fairly settled on it.

On my travels, I have noticed another distinct London plane type, that I am suggesting we call ‘Spiralis’. The tree in Oxford is a good benchmark, but I have seen others in London: in Battersea Park there are a pair, there’s one in Camberwell behind St Giles’ church (called the ‘Crazy plane’ on the Camberwell tree trail), and at least one in Tottenham Cemetery. I’m sure there must be others too, and I would love to know if you have seen one.