#Platanus occidentalis

[cedar-glade]

American sycamore, "lucy braun sycamore" Fort Hill SNP, Adams co. OHIO. 110 ft tall, single stem, 95 dbh , Jaden for scale. Platanus occidentalis

[uxbridge]

Old sycamores hugging the riverbank

[aisling-saoirse]

Plant Profile: American Sycamore - Platanus occidentalis

No hot summer day at the creek would truly feel right without the solid white trunks of this wonderful species clinging to eroded banks. I've covered American Sycamore before but with winter coming it's the perfect time to spot their ghostly branches

The American Sycamore is a resilient fast growing yet strong wooded river's edge tree that can reach staggering sizes. The tree itself is easily recognized for its flakey bark that turns solid white as it stretches up into the branches with browns/greys/green splotches throughout. Sometimes called Buttonwood for it's seed ball fruit which are present throughout the winter, inside is full of fuzzy windblown seeds; as a kid I didn't know this and used to plant the balls in the ground whole, I never got a tree from it. The leaves are palmate, maple-like, typically more solid form yet a little pointed, staying light green and changing to a vibrant orange in the fall. These leaves can reach comically large sizes (See my hand compared to one below) and are also one of the preferred food sources for riverine invertebrates. The flowers are similar to the fruit, essentially rounded balls usually reddish in color which can be either male (erect stalks) or female (lax stalks) on the same tree.

P. orientalis (Aka Old World Sycamore) and London Plane (a horticultural hybrid between both species P. occidentalis × P. orientalis) are the closest trees visually to American Sycamore. If you're in the American east you won't really see the Eurasian Old World Sycamore, it's a Mediterranean species, you'll see London plane which usually has more shades of dull grey/tan brown/yellows in the bark (see image 4 below). Leaves of the London Plane are smoother, more distinct and flatter where the stem connects to the leaf (it looks like a norway maple leaf), P. occidentalis has its bottom two pinates stick out more at a sharper angle making the stem look further centered in the leaf (Image 3 above). Lastly the London Plane and Old World Sycamore usually have seed balls that come in pairs (just like us!) while American Sycamore has solitary fruit.

Native to the Eastern United States, the American Sycamore has a very large natural range. Reaching it's Northern most extent at the northern border of Massachusetts west to the Missouri River in Omaha, South to East Texas into San Antonio with a southeastern most range in (barely) Northern Florida. This tree is most commonly found in riparian zones or on alluvial river banks, best known throughout the Piedmont, sometimes in locations or elevations one would not expect. I've spotted it in Appalachia in Georgia and the Adirondacks of New York, on mountaintops in Pennsylvania and in Texas valleys, it can also grow as far south as Mexico.

In the many cities, Sycamore and the more common London plane (shown on a West Philadelphia street Image 5 below) grow so large they choke the sidewalk and cover our avenues. It can be tolerant of salt, drought, heat, and flooding. It has characteristics of early successional floodplain species without the weak wooded downsides. Sycamore grows fast, lives long and reach massive proportions (Image 6 is the largest Sycamore in CT, image by Marty Aligata) it's not unusual to find giants on historic colonial properties.

Culturally I can think of no better tree that captures that homey feeling of southern Pennsylvania better than a Sycamore. Those twisting shallow streams framed by massive pale branches dotted with lime green leaves floating gently in a humid breeze. Famed painter Andrew Wyeth in his painting "Pennsylvania Landscape" thought of no better tree to represent this better than our Sycamore, though he called it 'Buttonwood'. (Image 7 below courtesy of the Brandywine art museum) Most of my images come from the same Brandywine river of which the Wyeths based their studio (I liked hiking in Chester county).

Ecology: The American Sycamore is rather important within it's range, the root systems often prevent erosion along stream banks (see Image 1). The tree serves as nesting/dens for a variety of bird and mammals species as interior cavities are common on living trees. The tree is host to multiple moth species. The fallen leaves of American sycamore are some of the more common food sources for stream based invertebrates, second only to American ash species (Fraxinus) which have a low tannin leaf content.

Sycamore are often a pioneer species on disturbed floodplain sites, however, it will not disappear from these communities like typical early succession species as it can live an extremely long lifespan. The fast growth capabilities allow it to survive into later stages of succession and will outlive any competition. It has the third fasted growth rates of any eastern species, loosing only to Cottonwood and Black willow (both short-lived). Older Sycamores can grow massive, develop multiple trunks, grow sideways, and survive getting hit by a house in flood waters (Image 8 above along the Brandywine). I really can't emphasize enough this tree is a survivor.

In Appalachia studies have shown that Sycamore may be a useful species to grow in reclaimed coal mining sites due to its low leaf browse and growth rates (doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.11.018). Unfortunately the tree tends to also capture a lot of heavy metals in its leaf content.

Uses: Primary commercial uses for sycamore are for pulpwood, veneer, and butcher blocks. I was told as a scout that you can drink the sap as purified water in an emergency however I've seen people do this with cottonwoods and vomit, so I won't recommend. My indigenous peers don't have sycamore where they live so I have nothing to report on Indigenous relationships which I typically cover. This may be because the wood also rots easily, it is not edible and so its uses are limited.

Propagation: American Sycamore is super easy to propagate, In late autumn after leaf fall try to take a cutting from a young branch and place it in the ground. They can take without rooting hormone and can easily grow to 6' in a few years. The seeds are also reliable but have lower viability.

Landscape Value: I've beat to death the point that I love this tree and it will remain beautiful for centuries likely outliving us all. Sycamore has excellent form (image 9) and fast hardy growth, but has three suburban downsides: it can displace sidewalk, its shedding bark, and introduced disease. Plane Anthracnose Disease, a European pathogen, is affecting this species in the Northern portion of it's range. This won't often kill a sycamore but will form unsightly defoliation and cankers causing a 'witches broom' cluster of new growth branches. Londonplane is resistant to this disease however it does not have the same ecological value to the lower area of the food chain. This however has caused the American sycamore to become less common in nurseries.

So this has been my piece on the American Sycamore, look around your rivers and streams for those distinct white branches, pick up a sapling if you want a fast growing hardy native. Happy hunting :)

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

[alleghenyfeverdreams]

Small sycamore leaf from the Hockhocking-Adena bike path in Athens Ohio. 2023. Available.

[whumpyourdamnpears]

Oh if you like Big Trees have you seen sycamores (Platanus occidentalis)? They have the largest diameter of any tree on the east coast of North America - tulip trees also get pretty big and tall but they're fast growers so they don't live as long as oaks and sycamores.

-🌳

THE BIG ONES ARE PERFECT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME

[ionizedoccidentalis]

btw ionized as alternative to irradiated, occidentialis as in Platanus occidentalis, the american sycamore, my favorite tree

[robotrules]

About Me

Content Warning:

Occasionally there will be NSFW and 18+ content, so please no one under 18. I'm not afraid to use the block function. I repeat, this is an adult woman, running an adult blog. Thank you.

Now that's out of the way, I want to introduce myself: I'm Ray a.k.a. Robotrules (she/hers, a disappointed straight). I'm:

terrible at remembering numbers!

I'm a very boring woman IRL but I may be into the fandom/interest you're into and I'm happy to chat when I pop in every now and then. It's fun to talk about your interests with like-minded people. :)

I try not to take myself too seriously, so me being a dumbass is going to be a regular occurrence here. And as much as I appreciate art, my hands can't really do it, so my creative hobby involves mashing my fingers on the keyboard to produce something that conveys whatever is keeping me up at night (fanfiction, original work, and thoughts on things). I can't promise that it's anything good but the optimist in me likes to think at least one person might appreciate it.

Currently my biggest interest are the Fallout games but I also like:

Robots/ai (very sad i won't be around to witness Singularity)

Antique/aesthetically pleasing machines and appliances

the Environment (my favorite tree is the Platanus occidentalis)

Science and Sci-fi

Monsters/aliens

the American Southwest

Cowboys/Westerns

Insects and other tiny creatures

History

Art and architecture

Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023)

I'm going to close off here with my favorite band. Because if I end up exploring out in the desert and discover some kind of cool abandoned super computer, this is what'll be playing softly on my radio:

[gardenerchance-v2]

London plane or London planetree is thought to be a hybrid of Platanus orientalis (oriental plane) and Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore). It was planted extensively in Victorian times to weather the pollution of London. (Wikipedia)

[swamp-boggler]

American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis).

[gfloutdoors]

Sycamore Trees in Texas: Beautiful Texan Trees With White Bark

Sycamore trees, recognized for their striking white bark, are a prominent feature in the Texan landscape. These large deciduous trees are more than just visually appealing; they hold an ecological and aesthetic significance in various regions across the state. The American Sycamore, scientifically known as Platanus occidentalis, is especially valued in central Texas, as recommended by the City…

[uxbridge]

Windswept trees in bottomland woods

[turtlesandfrogs]

So to add an example, here are the Koppen climate zones for Pennsylvania, which I chose because I don't have the background information so you can see the whole process if you'd like to do it:

I'm going to pick somewhere with a Dfb climate for this example, and I'll pick the Bradford, which I've never been to, and have limited information about beyond I think it's much colder than here, and I suspect they get snow.

So the first step I'm going to take is to look up native tree species of Pennsylvania. Turn's out one of the counties has a good resource that lists native tree species, which is handy.

I'm going to pick a deciduous tree, since I'd want shade in the summer but whatever passive solar I could get in the winter. That gives me still so many options, I'm going to pick a few to narrow it down. If you actually lived there, you'd probably have some sense of the trees and which ones you liked and perhaps even their growth habit and what role they play in the ecosystem. I'm going to pick pretty randomly.

So let's go with Black ash (Fraxinus nigra), Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), which I just now noticed are both referencing Pennsylvania, which is funny.

Which leads to the second step, which is to check the range of these potential species:

Here's Black Ash:

Here's Green Ash:

And here's Pin Cherry:

Obviously two of these species might potentially struggle more if we get hotter summers, but Green Ash looks like it'll do fine. If I lived on the north slope of a hill/mountain and had moist soils, I might still consider Black Ash and Pin Cherry, but I'd be careful to make sure I made their lives as easy as possible. If I lived in a city with a notable heat island effect, I'd definitely go with the Green ash, or another tree that has a wide range in to warmer climates.

In real life, I would have more options, but for the sake of this, we'll go into step tree, which is basic research. Look for height, width, potential disease problems, light and water conditions, what role they play in the ecosystem, and so on.

Turns out it's struggling in parts from the Emerald Ash borer and that's concerning to me, so if this were real life and I was depending on this tree to shade my home, I'd go back and find another option. I might however, do further research and see if it's an issue in my area, and even then if I decide I don't want it for my main shade tree, I might find another place for it. Doing further research, I might consider Platanus occidentalis, Sycamore, if I had moist soils; or Quercus marilandica if I had drier soils. I would also look at shrubbier trees, like Corylus americana if my house was one story/short. These can do a great job of cooling houses. My mom actually had a different hazelnut on the west side of the house when I was growing up, and it worked quite well.

The next hypothetical steps would be to see these trees in person, and then find a source, once you've decided on a tree that will work for your setting.

So, this is cool:

We need to convince more municipalities to plant more trees. I would suggest looking into trees that are more heat and drought tolerant (oaks, not western red cedar, for an example) & also those that grow more quickly. Planting on the west and south (or north, if you're in the Southern hemisphere) of a building matters the most for heat reduction.

If you want to get into it, I'd suggest finding your Köppen climate classification, and then finding either native trees that can thrive in a hotter-but-otherwise-similar climate than yours, or trees from such a climate. For example, I'm in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate so I'm looking at plants from Hot-summer Mediterranean climates that are hardy enough to still survive our winters (oaks, I'm looking at oaks. Fortunately, one species extends from here to down there, so that's easy).

I wouldn't usually advocate for non-native plants, but I'm seeing the climate change quickly enough that I think maybe humans should help with the pole-wards migration of plants.

[old-nationalparksock]

WOO yeah trees!