American Sycamore
Platanus occidentalis
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American sycamore grows from southwestern Maines westward to extreme eastern Nebraska, southward to south-central Texas, and eastward to northwestern Florida. It also grows in the mountains of northeastern Mexico. It's become naturalized in some areas outside of this range, such as southern Maine, southern Michigan, southern Minnesota, and eastern and southern Iowa. It's also been introduced in Turkmenistan, Ecuador, and the North and South Caucasus. American sycamore grows best in moist, fertile soils. Seedlings need full sun for proper establishment, after which partial shade is best for growth. It typically grows singly or in small groups.
Fruit: A ball-shaped head consisting of many tightly-packed achenes. They ripen from September to November and typically break up or fall off the tree only in the next spring.
Flowers: A small, globose syncarp on a 3-6" long peduncle. The male flower is green-yellow, and the female flower is red. They appear between March and May.
Uses: American sycamore is a valuable timer wood for its hardness and twisted, coarse grain. It's used for furniture, interior trim, and fiber board. The tree is sometimes planted as a street tree or in shelterbelts.
Ethnobotany: Native Americans were known to use the trunk for canoes. It can also be tapped to make syrup and sugar.
Importance to wildlife: Many songbird species eat the fruit. The tree hosts wood-boring insects and leafhoppers.
The full American sycamore tree. It is among the tallest trees in eastern deciduous forests, ranging from 60-120 feet at mature height.
The bark of an American sycamore. Bark is thin and mottled, falling away in brownish sheets to expose the creamy white underbark.
A single leaf on an American sycamore. Leaves are 10-20 cm wide, palmately veined, shallowly 3-5 lobed, coarsely toothed, glabrous above, and hairy at first but later mostly glabrous below.
The underside of a leaf, showing the palmate venation and the "pilling" of the hair as it comes off.
The petiole base of an American sycamore. The base of the petiole is hollow and covers the bud like a hood.
The bud of an American sycamore after the petiole has been removed. Buds are conical, brown, and single-scaled.
The fruit of an American sycamore. Fruit is borne on a slender stalk and persists for a while, but they will gradually break apart to scatter the seeds.
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