Controlled reciprocal pollinations between P. occidentalis and P. orientalis resulted in good yields of germinable seed and true hybrid seedlings.

Crosses of both species, as females, with P. racemosa and P. wrightii produced extremely low yields of germinable seed, but true hybrids were obtained from all interspecific combinations.

[9][10] Platanus × hispanica was first formally described in the botanical literature by the German botanist Otto von Münchhausen in his 1770 work der Hausvater.

[11] Later, it was described in the botanical literature by the Scottish botanist William Aiton in his 1789 work Hortus Kewensis as a variety of P. orientalis.

[12] Aiton described this variety with a two-word Latin diagnosis, "foliis transversis", and called it the Spanish plane tree.

The London plane is very tolerant of atmospheric pollution and root compaction, and for this reason it is a popular urban roadside tree.

Although pollarding requires frequent maintenance (the trees must usually be repruned every year), it creates a distinctive shape that is often sought after in plazas, main streets, and other urban areas.

In Australia, the London plane is used extensively as a street tree in major cities, particularly Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

In recent years the trees have been infested with the Polyphagous shot hole borer beetle (Euwallacea fornicatus).

[12] When quarter-sawn, the timber has a distinctive and highly decorative appearance of dark reddish-brown flecks against a lighter background and is known as lacewood.