American Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis

American Sycamores seem to follow me wherever I go, and I’m not complaining. They are beautiful, large trees which have a distinctive leaf shape and distinctive exfoliating bark (sort of a “camo” pattern is produced), which makes them easy to identify. Their bark colors range from shades of beige, blue, gray and green, making them very attractive trees. They can be distinguished from other Sycamores in that their achenes (fruits) will be solitary, as opposed to London plane (Platanus x hispanica / Platanus x acerifolia) which will have multiple fruits to a branchlet.

They should not be confused with the Acer genus (Maple trees), especially since I’ve heard maples referred to as Sycamores in the UK region.

While living in California I had the pleasure of meeting California Sycamores or Western Sycamores (Platanus racemosa). Their leaves had a more velvety, fuzzy texture and had a distinctly different shape to them.