AMERICAN SYCAMORE - Platanus occidentalis, Linn.
ONE CAN STAND ON a high ridge in almost any county in the state, scan the vew to a distant valley and trace the main streams by following the white, often green and spotted, branches of the sycamore. Because of its variegated bark, sycamore is as attractive in winter as it is in summer. No other American hardwood exceeds it for girth. Several trees seven feet in diameter have been reported in Missouri and, nationally, a 14-footer is champion.
The button ball fruits contain many seeds tightly bunched together. About the size of golf balls, these fruits hang on long stems throughout the winter, scattering their seed in early spring. The single seed containing a fuzzy projection is dispersed by both wind and water.
Leaves borne alternately on the twigs are roughly 3 to 5-lobed and have a coarse toothed margin. Leaves which are shade grown are usually much larger than those grown in the sun.
The bark is smooth, greenish in color on young trunks and limbs. The outer bark yearly flakes off in large patches, exposing the nearly white underbark. At the base of the trunk the bark is brown and broken into small, flat scales. Sycamore wood is tough and moderately hard; however, its use in construction is limited because it has a tendency to warp unless it is carefully dried. Sycamore lumber is used for drawer sides, furniture, butcher blocks, and other uses. Quarter sawn sycamore makes particularly beautiful paneling.
Because of its high resistance to industrial fumes and rapidity of growth it has been used extensively for shade tree plantings along streets.
Sycamore matures early and older trees are apt to be hollow. Many raccoons and squirrels raise their young in these trees. They remain useful even in death when they fall into streams and become favored nesting sites for fish.
