Platanus occidentalis seed
LATIN NAME: Platanus occidentalis
COMMON NAME: American Sycamore
American sycamore is the tall, bold, mottled-bark tree of the river banks and the flood plains, and its great, broad, maple-like leaves and the pale, mottled, peeling bark have made it a familiar of the countryside for a very long time. The tall, open tree carries the large, broad, three-to-five-lobed leaves and the round, hanging, ball-like fruit heads through the winter. The bark peels away in the pale, mottled plates, giving the trunk a fine, curious, patchwork look. It is a fast, generous, dependable tree for the large garden, the park and the river bank. It is a tree of the moist, deep, rich ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
American sycamore has a strong and well-documented place in the plant science, and it has been studied for its fast growth, its mottled bark and its place along the rivers and the flood plains. The broad, maple-like leaves and the way the tree stands up to the wet, rich ground have been looked into, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the riparian trees and the flood-plain planting. The pale, mottled, peeling bark and the round, hanging fruit heads have also made it a fine garden tree, and it is a regular subject of the studies of the fast-growing shade trees of the river valleys.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
American sycamore is grown for the fast shade and the mottled bark. The great, broad leaves make a fine, generous shade through the summer, and the pale, mottled, peeling trunk is one of the most curious and handsome of the tree barks. The round, ball-like fruit heads hang through the winter as a fine feature, and the tree is a dependable, easy grower for the large garden, the park and the river bank. It has been written about in the forestry and the horticultural papers for its fast growth and its fine, curious bark, and it is a generous, easy tree of the moist, deep, rich ground.
The American sycamore grows naturally along the rivers and the flood plains, where it is one of the fastest and the most dependable of the shade trees. The great, broad leaves give a generous shade through the summer, and the pale, mottled bark, peeling away in the patchwork plates, is one of the most curious of the tree barks. The round, ball-like fruit heads hang through the winter.
The American sycamore is a fine, fast tree for the large garden and the park, and the great, broad leaves give a generous shade through the summer. The tree is a dependable, easy grower of the moist, rich ground.
To grow the American sycamore from seed, sow the small seeds at a shallow depth in pots of moist, free-draining soil in the open air, since the fresh seed needs no special treatment, keep them in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come up within a few weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the moist, deep, rich soil, the broad, maple-like leaves and the mottled bark will be there in a few seasons.
Name: American Sycamore
Scientific Name: Platanus occidentalis
zone: 4-9
plant height: 75-100 feet
light requirements: full sun
soil & water preferences: grows well in well-drained soil.
Growing Instructions:
- Scarification: soak in water for 24hours
- stratification: Cold Stratify for 90 days
- germination: sow seed 1/4″ deep
The American Sycamore is a large tree with light green leaves and ornamental bark.
A sycamore can grow to massive proportions, typically reaching up to 100 ft high.
Soil Type: Prefers bottomlands, along the banks of rivers and streams, deep, moist, rich soils.
Zones: 4 to 9
Stratification Requirement: None required.