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| ## American sycamore {#american-sycamore .Title-Header}               |
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| *Platanus occidentalis* L.                                            |
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| Plant Symbol = PLOC                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6979166666666665in" height="2.6979166666666665in"}

## Alternate common names 

Planetree, American planetree, buttonball tree

## Uses

*Industry*: American sycamore is grown in short-rotation plantations
primarily for pulp and it also is used for rough lumber. The heavy,
close-grained wood is difficult to split and work because of
interlocking fibers. It has been used for butcher\'s blocks, furniture,
veneer and interior trim, boxes and crates, flooring, and particle and
fiberboard.

*Conservation*: American sycamore is a good planting where a large,
fast-growing tree is desired. Negative features are the relatively weak
limbs (susceptible to wind and ice damage) and the large leaves that
decay slowly after falling. The huge size quickly attained by these
trees is often underestimated. The London planetree, *Platanus hybrida*
Brot. (= *Platanus* *acerifolia* (Ait.) Willd.), is widely planted as a
street tree, probably due to its disease resistance and tolerance of air
pollution (American sycamore is susceptible to ozone damage). The London
plane is a hybrid between American sycamore and oriental plane (*P.
orientalis*) and perhaps includes a number of backcrosses.

American sycamore is recommended for planting on all types of
strip-mined land, and it is useful in rehabilitation of various sites
with saturated soils. It is often a natural early colonizer of disturbed
sites such as old fields, spoil banks, streambanks degraded by
channelization, and waterway disposal sites.

*Ethnobotanic*: Native Americans used sycamore for a variety of
medicinal purposes, including cold and cough remedies, as well as
dietary, dermatological, gynecological, respiratory, and
gastrointestinal aids.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

## Description

*General*: Planetree family (Platanaceae). Monoecious, native, deciduous
trees with an open crown, among the largest of Eastern deciduous
forests, reaching heights of 18-37 meters, and the greatest diameter of
any temperate hardwood tree \-- the largest known range 3-4 meters
d.b.h.; twigs zig-zag, with only lateral buds, these completely covered
by a single scale within the petiole base and not visible until after
the petiole detachment; bark of upper trunk exfoliating in patches,
leaving areas of inner bark exposed, a patchwork of browns, yellows, and
greens against a background of white, the darker bark with age falling
away in thin brittle sheets, exposing younger and lighter-colored bark.
Leaves are deciduous, alternate, 10-35 cm long, palmate-veined and
roughly star-shaped, with 3-5 sharp lobes, the blades often as broad or
broader than they are long, truncate to cordate at the base, on petioles
to 12 cm long; a leaf-like stipule at the petiole base is persistent
during early growth. Staminate and pistillate flowers in separate,
tightly compacted, ball-shaped clusters. Fruit is single-seeded and
indehiscent (an achene), 8-9 mm long, with a ring of bristles at the
base, numerous achenes in a pendulous, ball-shaped fruiting head 2-5 cm
in diameter, the individual achenes drifting in the wind if the head
breaks up on the tree. Common name apparently borrowed from the European
sycamore maple (*Acer pseudoplatanus* L.), which has similar leaves.
That name in turn comes from the Middle Eastern sycomore fig, *Ficus
sycomorus* L., its specific epithet from the Greek "sykomoros,"
mulberry.

*Variation within the species*: geographic variation in sycamore is
extensive, but variants are not currently formally recognized. *Platanus
occidentalis* var. *glabrata* and *P. occidentalis* var. *attenuata* are
treated as synonyms of the typical expression.

The similar London planetree (below) distinguished by the lobes of its
larger leaves being somewhat longer and narrower (often longer than
wide), the fruiting heads 1-2 on each stalk, and the bark often somewhat
greener.

## Distribution

American sycamore is widespread in the eastern United States, from Texas
to Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin and into southern Ontario, Canada;
apparently extirpated in Maine. It also occurs in the mountains of
northeastern Mexico. For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

It often is a pioneer on upland sites in the central part of its range,
but it is primarily a species of bottomland and alluvial soils, also
occurring on creek banks, mesic coves and lower slopes, on a wide range
of soil types. It is a major pioneer species in the floodplains of large
rivers and occurs on a variety of wet sites, including shallow swamps,
sloughs, and wet river bottoms where soil is saturated 2-4 months during
the growing season. Water dispersal often results in seed deposition on
muddy flats highly conducive to germination because seed dispersal
occurs when water is receding after spring floods. American sycamore is
most commonly found in mixture with sweetgum, boxelder, silver and red
maple, cottonwood, and willows. It is found at 0-300 (-750) meter
elevation.

American sycamore can tolerate weeks of flooding, even complete
submersion of seedlings, provided that the water is aerated. A
significant portion of young sycamores can survive almost 2 months of
continuously waterlogged soils during dormancy, but sycamore of various
stages will die if the entire tree is inundated for more than two weeks
during the growing season. Saplings top-killed by flooding may resprout
from the root crown.

Flowers appear with the leaves in April-May or as early as late March in
the South. Fruits ripen September-October (-November), usually breaking
up and falling from the tree through the winter and into spring.

## Establishment

Open-grown American sycamores usually begin flowering in 6-7 years.
Natural stands of sycamore usually produce appreciable numbers of seed
at approximately 25 years; optimum seed production occurs from 50-200
years of age. Good seed crops are produced every 1-2 years. Sycamore
seeds do not require any pretreatment for good germination. They do not
germinate well in heavy litter or in deep shade or in temperatures
outside of 59-86 ^o^ Fahrenheit (15-30 ^o^ C.).

Sycamore seedlings require direct sunlight for good growth and
establishment, except perhaps on clay soil. One-year-old seedlings may
reach 10 feet, and sprouts may reach 25 feet. The potentially great size
of mature trees is correlated with exceptionally rapid growth, and
maximum age probably does not exceed 250 years, although Smith (1952)
notes that 500-600 may be the upper range.

## Management

American sycamore can be regenerated from natural seed sources, by
planting, or by stump and root sprouting. On \"silvicultural biomass
farms\" aimed at maximum fiber production, fertilization is usually
necessary, especially with rotations shorter than 5 years. Sycamores in
managed plantations interplanted with legumes or other nitrogen-fixing
species were larger than control plants 6 years after establishment of
the nitrogen fixers. Sycamore has good coppice regeneration potential,
although it has been reported that trees died after two successive
harvests. A high percentage of stumps sprout, regardless of stump size
or time of harvest, although larger and heavier sprouts are produced
from dormant season cuts (vs. growing season).

Significant diseases and insect problems occur in managed plantations
and landscaping trees of American sycamore but are largely absent from
natural stands. Important problems include anthracnose and eastern
mistletoe (*Phoradendron* spp.).

Prescribed fire is not recommended for bottomland forests in which
sycamore occurs. Bottomland fires usually move rapidly along the
surface, consuming shrubs and herbs and usually killing saplings and
seedlings of all species. Larger trees suffer bark wounds that create
points of entry for rots, stains, and insects. Under extreme conditions,
large trees may be killed outright. Fire also reduces soil organic
layers, leading to site degradation.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Elias, T.S. 1980. *The complete trees of North America: Field guide and
natural history*. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, New York.

Kaul, R.B. 1997. *Platanaceae.* Pp. 358-361, IN: *Flora of North
America, North of Mexico*. Vol. 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, New
York.
\<http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395\>

Oklahoma Biological Survey 2000. *Platanus occidentalis*. IN*: Catalogue
of woody plants of Oklahoma*. Norman, Oklahoma. 22sep2000.
\<http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/\>

Santamour, F.S. Jr. 1972*. Interspecific hybridization in Platanus*.
Forest Sci. 18: 236-239.

Smith, N.F. 1952. *Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes*. Thunder
Bay Press, Lansing, Michigan.

Sullivan, J. 1994. *Platanus occidentalis*. IN: W.C. Fischer (compiler).
The Fire Effects Information System \[Database\]. USDA, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory,
Missoula, Montana. \<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>

Wells, O.O. & R.C. Schmidtling 1990. *Platanus occidentalis*. Pp.
511-517, IN R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala. *Silvics of North America*.
*Volume 2.* *Hardwoods*. USDA Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654,
Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Table_of_contents.htm\>

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Plant Sciences Dept., Davis,
California

Edited: 19jun02 jsp; 29may03 ahv; 060808 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
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