Greece

The "Tree of Hippocrates" in Kos, Greece, possibly a descendant of the original.

The Tree of Hippocrates, under which Hippocrates — the "Father of Medicine" — taught at Kos, is reputed to have been an oriental plane. A 500-year-old tree presently there may be on the same site and may have been planted from a succession of cuttings from the original. The Athenian Academy, outside Athens, featured a sacred grove of planes where the students listened to the masters and where among others the Peripatetics practiced philosophy.

Many villages in Greece feature plane trees in their main squares, frequently found alongside them are water springs that in the past would serve as the main water source for the villagers; usually these are quite old trees with their age seen as a point of pride for the local inhabitants. Occasionally the oldest trees exhibit partially hollowed out trunks, with cavities large enough to provide amusement opportunities for local or visiting children and teenagers, and even serving (along with the rest of the tree) as tourist attractions or at least in one occasion a shrine.

Rome

Pliny's Natural History^[8] records the westward progress of the plane "introduced among us from a foreign clime for nothing but its shade", planted first at the tomb of Diomedes on the island of Tremiti, then imported to Greek Sicily by Dionysius the Elder (c. 432-367 BC), tyrant of Syracuse. He had plane-trees conveyed to the city of Rhegium (Reggio di Calabria), where they were looked upon as the great marvel of his palace, according to Pliny's sources. From there it spread by the first century CE as far as the lands of the Morini in Belgic Gaul. Regardless of why it may have been introduced, the tree had medicinal uses from early times. Pliny^[9] details 25 remedies using preparation from the bark, leaves and excrescences of plane. Pliny prescribes it for burns, bites, stings, frostbite and infections.

Pliny goes on to describe some legendary plane trees.^[10] There was one on the grounds of the Athenian Academy, he says, that had roots 50 feet (15 m) long. Licinius Mucianus held a banquet for 19 in a hollow plane-tree of Lycia, and the emperor Caligula another for 15 plus servants in a tree house (nest) built in the branches of a plane-tree at Velletri.

Kashmir

Famous Char Chinar island containing four chinar trees on Dal lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Muslim Kashmiris believe that the chinar was brought to the Kashmir valley by Islamic preachers from Iran in the 14th century AD, while Hindu Kashmiris hold a view that the tree was traditionally planted near Hindu holy places in Kashmir and is associated with Hindu goddess Bhavani.^[11] Excavations from the Burzahom archaeological site revealed charcoal remains of Platanus orientalis from the Neolithic period.^[12]

After the advent of Muslim rule, especially under the Mughals, Chinar became a major garden and landscape tree, and dominates many historic gardens. It is a living heritage of Kashmir. It is seen as a symbol for the region. It is a majestic tree that can be found throughout the landscape of the valley, hillsides and cities, generally called booune in Kashmiri and chinar in Hindustani.^[13] The tree known for its elegance and exuberance has remained an attraction for artists and litterateurs. One tree believed to be planted in 1374 A.D at the Chattergam village by an Islamic mystic Syed Abul Qaim Hamadani who accompanied Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani from Iran to Kashmir, is believed by many in Kashmir to be the world's oldest surviving chinar tree.^[14][15] Planting of chinar trees in Kashmir was greatly patronised by the Mughals, and later by Dogra rulers.^[16]

Chinar trees are being felled rapidly in Kashmir,^[17] although a ban was enacted in 2009 to curb cutting.^[18] Chinar trees are now required to be registered, considered State Property, and painted white at their base.^[19] Naseem Bagh a Mughal garden near Srinagar with over 700 chinar trees has been developed as a Chinar Heritage Park by the University of Kashmir.^[20]

United Kingdom

In 2011 a specimen planted by Capability Brown at Corsham Court in Wiltshire was identified by The Tree Register of the British Isles as the tree with the greatest known spread in the United Kingdom.^[21]

An example dating to at least 1762 is one of Kew Gardens' thirteen 'Heritage Trees'.^[22]

The Pococke Garden at Christ Church, Oxford contains a specimen, known as The Pococke Tree, which is understood to have been planted by Edward Pococke from seed he collected in 1636 from Aleppo. With a girth of around 9 metres it is the oldest in the UK.^[23][24]