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Platanus acerifolia (Platanaceae)

It is located in the vicinities of the Lamone river, where there was once a colonial court. The monumental plane tree has a circumference of 6.22m and a height of 24m, it was surely present during the Second World War.

In the last years of the war, it seems that a New Zealander battalion was under the shadows of this tree when some German soldiers opened fire and killed them, while hitting buildings and the tree. Some years later, a New Zealander delegation arrived in Faenza and wanted  to commemorate the fallen soldiers  by hanging on the trunk a small sacred stone, which is still possible to see.

The phytosanitary conditions are discreet, the tree suffers from caries but it has received careful cures.

This majestic plane tree is a witness and victim of the war, it is still visible today the pollarded head, but the tree has never left to live and give us its wide and globular foliage.

How to reach it:

Travelling on the highway from Bologna to Ancona, exit at  Faenza. The tree is at the number  153 of via Lugo.

Botanical characteristics:

It is a hybrid and spontaneous plant spread in Italy and Europe, where it is distributed till the altitude of 800m .

It was introduced in Spain during the 17^th century and became one of the principal, ornamental trees of Europe during the Napoleonic period.

The species does not tolerate aridity and prefers clayish, fresh and wet soils. It is a heliophilous species.

It is used as ornamental plants, its wood is used for the production of paper or firewood.

FOTO: http://dati.emilia-romagna.it/id/ibc/tree/735/html

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)