Acer pseudoplatanus L.
sycamore
Monoecious, deciduous tree to 20 m high with smooth grey bark. Shoots green, glabrous. Buds large; inner scales to 5 cm long, pinkish. Petiole slender, to c. 15 cm long, usually reddish. Lamina simple, 5-lobed to c. 1/2 way on mature trees, mostly 8-14 × 10-20 cm, glaucescent or sometimes green below, becoming glabrous or with hairs confined to main vein axils below; lobes ovate, coarsely and irregularly crenate-serrate or lobulate; lf base subcordate or cordate. Panicles 5-15 cm long (including main stem), pendulous, appearing with the lvs; pedicels glabrous or hairy. Fls dense, numerous; sepals and petals 2-4 mm long, oblong, green. Stamens (6)-8-(10), exserted; filaments hairy towards base; anthers c. 1 mm long. Ovary white-villous. Samara wings 2-4 cm long, often reddish, usually spreading at a broadly obtuse angle, sometimes slightly incurved. Seed 0.5-1 cm long.
N.; S.: throughout, in most inhabited parts, especially E. South Id; St.; Ch. (Te One).
C. and S. Europe 1880
Very common in many modified and partially modified habitats ranging from abandoned gardens and waste land to scrub bordering roadsides, rivers in gullies, and in and around stands of secondary and regenerating forest.
FL Oct-Nov.
Sycamore is cultivated abundantly in most inhabited areas. Sometimes dense copses have developed from the freely-produced seed, and in gardens seedlings can be a nuisance. Some forest communities are composed almost solely of sycamore. Considerable variation exists in N.Z. apart from the named cvs grown. Thus, wild plants differ in the lf and infl. hairs, the colour of the lf underside and the samara colour. On some trees the pink samaras are very attractive as they near maturity.
