Plane Tree / Plátano

The plane tree cultivated in Madeira is the

Platanus orientalis , and not the P. Occidentalis , as erroneously stated by all botanists who have studied our flora. It is a tree that can reach 35 meters in height, with monoecious flowers, the staminate and pistillate on separate branches and gathered in globose heads. The wood of the plane tree is light and wavy; when well dried, it is excellent for carpentry. There are no reports of the eye irritations caused by the hairs of the new leaves of the plane tree being observed in Madeira.

The plane tree thrives not only in Funchal and its outskirts, where it already existed at the end of the 17th century, but also in the ravines of the interior; however, it develops poorly at the top of the mountains, seeming to be affected by the strong winds that often blow there.