From Michael Alexander:
On a hot summer day in Lyon, France, when you reached a street lined with these fabulous trees, the temperature dropped about 5 degrees C. They’re in the parks, too, and are so widespread that they provide a civic identity far more attractive and beneficial than Vancouver’s obsession with trimmed hedges and clipped lawns.
But I don’t know the species. Look closely, and the leaf shape looks like Canadian maple. The bark is a spectacular mottled grey, brown and white, and flakes easily. Anybody?
I think they’re called “plane trees”.
yes, “platane” in French.
for the record, it was the tree specie originally envisioned for Hornby street by Erickson…
But the engineers objected to this species, and provided numerous reports explaining why it is not appropriate in Vancouver (see here)
French used to plant Plane tree everywhere they have been trolling…
A reason why Kunming in China is a so charming city is that it has retained some avenue bordered by plane trees (brought here by French):
http://voony.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/kunming.jpg
This picture is the one of Zhengyi Rd (Kunming)…I humbly suggest that it is a more than serious contender in your “competition”…and not only because the tree like the picture self explains..(PS: the scooters in the picture are all electric)
Thanks for the beautiful example, Voony.
I’ve always known them as Sycamores. Buenos Aires and many Argentine towns are full of them, lining the streets for shade.