''Platanus occidentalis'', also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of ''
Platanus
''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae.
All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...
'' native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeastern Mexico, extreme southern
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, and possibly extreme southern
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. It is usually called
sycamore
Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry".
Species of trees known as sycamore:
* ''Acer pseudoplata ...
in North America, a name which can refer to other types of trees in other parts of the world. The American sycamore is a long-lived species, typically surviving at least 200 years and likely as long as 500–600 years.
The species epithet ''occidentalis'' is Latin for "western", referring to the
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...
, because at the time when it was named by
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, the only other species in the genus was ''
P. orientalis'' ("eastern"), native to the
Eastern Hemisphere
The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to pol ...
.
Description
An American sycamore tree can often be easily distinguished from other trees by its mottled bark which flakes off in large irregular masses, leaving the surface mottled and gray, greenish-white and brown. The bark of all trees has to yield to a growing trunk by stretching, splitting, or infilling, but sycamore bark is more rigid and less elastic than the bark of other trees, so to accommodate the growth of the wood underneath, the tree sheds it in large, brittle pieces.
A sycamore can grow to massive proportions, typically reaching up to high and in diameter when grown in deep soils. The largest of the species have been measured to , and nearly in diameter. Larger specimens were recorded in historical times. In 1744, a Shenandoah Valley settler named Joseph Hampton and two sons lived for most of the year in a hollow sycamore in what is now Clarke County, Virginia. In 1770, at
Point Pleasant, Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Kanawha River, Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 Uni ...
(now in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
), near the junction of the
Kanawha and
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
s,
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
recorded in his journal a sycamore measuring in circumference at from the ground.
The sycamore tree is often divided near the ground into several secondary trunks, very free from branches. Spreading limbs at the top make an irregular, open head. Roots are fibrous. The trunks of large trees are often hollow.
Another peculiarity is the way the leaves grow sticky, green buds. In early August, most trees in general will have—nestled in the axils of their leaves—the tiny forming bud which will produce the leaves of the coming year. The sycamore branch apparently has no such buds. Instead there is an enlargement of the petiole which encloses the bud in a tight-fitting case at the base of the petiole.
* Bark: Dark reddish brown, broken into oblong plate-like scales; higher on the tree, it is smooth and light gray; separates freely into thin plates which peel off and leave the surface pale yellow, or white, or greenish. Branchlets at first pale green, coated with thick pale tomentum, later dark green and smooth, finally become light gray or light reddish brown.
* Wood: Light brown, tinged with red; heavy, weak, difficult to split. Largely used for furniture and interior finish of houses, butcher's blocks.
Specific gravity
Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water (molecule), wa ...
, 0.5678;
relative density
Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...
, .
* Winter buds: Large, stinky, sticky, green, and three-scaled, they form in summer within the petiole of the full grown leaf. The inner scales enlarge with the growing shake. There is no terminal bud.
* Leaves: Alternate, palmately nerved, broadly ovate or orbicular, long, truncate or cordate or wedge-shaped at base, decurrent on the petiole. Three to five-lobed by broad shallow sinuses rounded in the bottom; lobes acuminate, toothed, or entire, or undulate. They come out of the bud plicate, pale green coated with pale tomentum; when full grown are bright yellow green above, paler beneath. In autumn they turn brown and wither before falling. Petioles long, abruptly enlarged at base and inclosing the buds. Stipules with spreading, toothed borders, conspicuous on young shoots, caducous.
![Sycamore Tree Leaf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Sycamore_Tree_Leaf.jpg)
* Flowers: May, with the leaves; monoecious, borne in dense heads. Staminate and pistillate heads on separate peduncles. Staminate heads dark red, on axillary peduncles; pistillate heads light green tinged with red, on longer terminal peduncles. Calyx of staminate flowers three to six tiny scale-like sepals, slightly united at the base, half as long as the pointed petals. Of pistillate flowers three to six, usually four, rounded sepals, much shorter than the acute petals. Corolla of three to six thin scale-like petals.
* Stamens: In staminate flowers as many of the divisions of the calyx and opposite to them; filaments short; anthers elongated, two-celled; cells opening by lateral slits; connectives hairy.
* Pistil: Ovary superior, one-celled, sessile, ovate-oblong, surrounded at base by long, jointed, pale hairs; styles long, incurved, red, stigmatic, ovules one or two.
* Fruit: Brown heads, solitary or rarely clustered, in diameter, hanging on slender stems three to six inches long;
persistent through the winter. These heads are composed of
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s about two-thirds of an inch in length. October.
File:Sycamore Tree Bark.jpg, Close-up of the characteristic bark
File:Sycamore_Platanus_occidentalis.jpg, Young tree
File:Sycamore in Warren County, Indiana.png, In winter, showing persistent fruit
File:Massive Sycamore.JPG, Old trees can have massive trunks
File:2014-11-02 12 00 54 American Sycamore during autumn at the Ewing Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ewing, New Jersey.JPG, Tree in autumn
File:2014-11-02 12 01 43 American Sycamore foliage during autumn at the Ewing Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ewing, New Jersey.JPG, Autumn leaves
File:Sycamore tree branches in March.JPG, Upper branches
File:Sycamore trunk and branches.JPG, Trunk and branches
Distribution
In its native range, it is often found in
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
and
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
areas. The range extends from
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
to
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
in the north,
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
in the west, and south to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. It is apparently
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
.
Closely related species (see ''
Platanus
''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae.
All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...
'') occur in Mexico and the southwestern states of the United States. It is sometimes grown for
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
, and has become naturalized in some areas outside its native range. It can be found growing successfully in
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...
, and it is sold as far south as
Okeechobee. The American sycamore is also well adapted to life in Argentina and Australia and is quite widespread across the
Australian continent
The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul (), Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, Meganesia, or Papualand to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and East ...
especially in the cooler southern states such as
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Ecology
American sycamore is found most commonly in bottomland or floodplain areas, thriving in the wet environments provided by rivers, streams, or abundant groundwater, though it will die after being flooded for more than two weeks at a time. Its life cycle follows the pattern of a "weedy" species: it grows mature enough to reproduce rather young and produces large numbers of wind-distributed seeds. The dominance of sycamore in a forest depends on the conditions where it grows; it is often a pioneer species, but in the wet sites that are most ideal for it, it persists as a subclimax to climax species, partly because of its fast growth and very long lifespan.
As one of the largest trees in the wet bottomland habitats where it dominates, it is a key component of the structure of those habitats. The heartwood of a sycamore tree decays quickly, producing large hollow cavities in the center of the trees which are used by many animals as nesting sites. The largest hollow trees can be big enough for black bear dens, but average trees create homes for bats and cavity-nesting birds like wood ducks, barred owls, screech owls, chimney swift, and great-crested flycatcher.
As host plant
American sycamore is the host plant of the
sycamore tussock moth, a species which specializes in it, and a major host plant for the drab prominent moth. This plant is also the first host known for ''
Plagiognathus albatus''.
Uses
![Platanus occidentalis 20838411752 c5e9abdf64 o](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Platanus_occidentalis_20838411752_c5e9abdf64_o.jpg)
The American sycamore is able to endure a big city environment and was formerly extensively planted as a
shade tree
A shade tree is a large tree whose primary role is to provide shade in the surrounding environment due to its spreading canopy (forest), canopy and crown (botany), crown, where it may give shelter from sunlight in the heat of the summer for peopl ...
,
but due to the defacing effects of
anthracnose
A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...
it has been largely usurped in this function by the resistant
London plane
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
.
Its wood has been used extensively for
butcher's block
A butcher block or butcher's block is a heavy duty chopping block, typically laminated of hardwood.
Traditionally made of hard maple, it was commonly used in butcher shops and meat processing plants but has now become popular in home use.
T ...
s. It has been used for boxes and crates; although coarse-grained and difficult to work, it has also been used to make furniture, siding, and musical instruments.
[
Investigations have been made into its use as a ]biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
crop.
Use by Native Americans
The tree bark has traditionally been used by Native Americans to make little dishes for gathering whortleberries.
Pests and diseases
The American sycamore is a favored food plant of the pest sycamore leaf beetle.
American sycamore is susceptible to plane anthracnose
A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...
disease (''Apiognomonia veneta
''Apiognomonia veneta'' is a plant pathogen which causes anthracnose
A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and there ...
'', syn. ''Gnomonia platani''), an introduced fungus found naturally on the Oriental plane
''Platanus orientalis'', the Old World sycamore or Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, growing to or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown. In autumn its deep green leaves may change to blood red ...
''P. orientalis'', which has evolved considerable resistance to the disease. Although rarely killed or even seriously harmed, American sycamore is commonly partially defoliated by the disease, rendering it unsightly as a specimen tree.
Sometimes mistaken for frost damage, the disease manifests in early spring, wilting new leaves and causing mature leaves to turn brown along the veins. Infected leaves typically shrivel and fall, so that by summer the tree is regrowing its foliage. Cankers form on twigs and branches near infected leaves, serving to spread the disease by spore production and also weakening the tree. Because cankers restrict the flow of nutrients, twigs and branches afflicted by cankers eventually die. Witch's broom
Witch's broom or witches' broom is a deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, where the natural structure of the plant is changed. A dense mass of shoots grows from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or a ...
is a symptom reflecting the cycle of twigs dying.
As a result of the fungus' damage, American sycamore is often avoided as a landscape tree, and the more resistant London plane
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
(''P. × hispanica''; hybrid ''P. occidentalis × P. orientalis'') is planted instead.
History
The terms under which the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
was formed are called the "Buttonwood Agreement
The Buttonwood Agreement is the founding document of what is now New York Stock Exchange and is one of the most important financial documents in U.S. history. The agreement organized securities trading in New York City and was signed on May 17 ...
," because it was signed under a buttonwood (sycamore) tree at 68 Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
, New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1792.
The sycamore made up a large part of the forests of Greenland and Arctic America during the Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
and Tertiary period
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
s. It once grew abundantly in central Europe, from which it has now disappeared. It was brought to Europe early in the 17th century.
See also
* Buttonball Tree, an American sycamore, said to be the largest on the East Coast, located in Sunderland, Massachusetts
Sunderland is a town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The wo ...
* Pinchot Sycamore
The Pinchot Sycamore is a large American sycamore (''Platanus occidentalis'') in Simsbury, Connecticut. It is the largest tree in Connecticut. When measured by the Connecticut Botanical Society in 2016, the Pinchot Sycamore's trunk was over aro ...
, an American sycamore that is the largest tree in Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
* Webster Sycamore, formerly the largest American sycamore in West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
* Sycamore maple
''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tol ...
or European sycamore (''Acer pseudoplatanus''), a maple which is visually very similar to sycamore
References
Bibliography
*
External links
University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of ''Platanus occidentalis'' (American sycamore)
* ttp://forestry.about.com/library/tree/blsycax.htm/ Forestry.about.com: American sycamore - ''Platanus occidentalis''br>Bioimages.vanderbilt.edu: photos of ''Platanus occidentalis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q157739
occidentalis
Trees of the Northeastern United States
Trees of the North-Central United States
Trees of the Southeastern United States
Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America)
Flora of the Appalachian Mountains
Trees of Ontario
Trees of Eastern Canada
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Trees of humid continental climate
Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Garden plants of North America
Ornamental trees