{"id":21804,"date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/?post_type=purple_issue&#038;p=21804"},"modified":"2022-11-21T10:20:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T09:20:43","slug":"beauty-plane-to-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/2022\/11\/10\/beauty-plane-to-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty plane to see"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center sans-serif intro\">Fuzzy brown catkins festoon the branches of London\u2019s iconic tree <\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"no-tts wp-block-image article-in-image photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1556\" height=\"1619\" src=\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"no-tts wp-image-21803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3.jpg 1556w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3-288x300.jpg 288w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3-984x1024.jpg 984w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3-768x799.jpg 768w, https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3-1476x1536.jpg 1476w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1556px) 100vw, 1556px\" \/><figcaption>Plane catkins slowly break up over winter, ready to release their many seeds <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif dropcap\">NOT NATIVE AND TECHNICALLY A HYBRID, the London plane was created in about 1650 by crossing the Oriental plane and American sycamore. Yet today, no tree is more closely associated with the British capital. Its shade-giving foliage and pale flaky bark are vital to the city\u2019s character. The plane isn\u2019t actually the commonest tree in London, nor is it confined to the metropolis. Its toughness \u2013 it is exceptionally tolerant of air pollution \u2013 means it has been planted on city streets throughout Britain and Europe. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"article-full-body sans-serif\">Come December, this most urban of trees becomes an alternative Christmas tree, with hundreds of natural baubles festooning its leafless branches. Inside every fuzzy brown catkin is a mass of achenes \u2013 small fruits, each consisting of a seed attached to a tuft of hair to aid eventual dispersal on the wind next spring or summer. In the meantime, the fruiting balls hang from the tree, looking highly decorative.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"sans-serif article-byline\">  <strong>BH <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fuzzy brown catkins festoon the branches of London\u2019s iconic tree <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":21803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"16","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"16","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_16-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_16-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"December-2022","purple_external_id":"December-2022-16-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"December-2022-16-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000087238||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000087238||","purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.498","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.498","purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.498","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.498","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"58d61955-0ac4-406c-83f1-ab6f21d86b70","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-11-10T11:05:02Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"8c053bf3-f38d-4ef2-a708-485c1e1b4920","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-11-16T09:10:13Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AjAU78_ONTvKnCEhcHhtJIA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[25],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/11\/ab05da16-67a4-4d7b-a740-b5d8e61de1a3.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"< 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brown catkins festoon the branches of London\u2019s iconic 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