In the dog days of summer you may see London Plane Trees shedding bark, exposing pale creamy exteriors and leaving sidewalks and streets piled with long strips. Dragging the back of a thumbnail across the freshly exposed areas reveals the bright green of chlorophyll.
The whole (above ground portion) of the tree can now photosynthesize, the tree now akin to one gigantic leaf! This enhanced ability to photosynthesize may partially account for Plane Trees' resilient in our challenging, urban environment. While I haven't seen reference to this idea, I wonder if it could be an adaptation to the leaves getting Anthracnose every year. Who needs leaves when your trunk photosynthesizes?! Another theory is that shedding allows the trees to literally drop mosses, lichens, fungi, etc. It's a great, ephemeral moment in the tree's cycle. The bark is satisfyingly crunchy underfoot.
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