Sycamores are abundant in the eastern part of the US, while their hybrid relatives are popular throughout Europe. These trees are huge and fast growing and are prized for their shade and resistance to fragmentation. You can tell if you’ve come across a sycamore by looking carefully at its bark, leaves, and fruit.
Identify it based on the bark and branches
Look for any crust that is flaking off. Sycamores have brittle bark and the bark cannot withstand the rapid growth of these trees, so it flakes frequently, resulting in an uneven, chipped appearance
Look for “camouflage” colors in the bark. The older bark flakes off, exposing the younger bark below it. Therefore, the bark of sycamore trees will come in a variety of colors (brown, green, tan, and white), giving these trees a distinctive pattern similar to military camouflage
See if it has a huge dome-shaped crown. The canopy of sycamore trees can reach more than 60 feet (18 m) wide and 80 feet (24 m) tall. Branches and leaves fill in this space creating a wide dome.
Check the width of the trunk. Sycamores are not the tallest of trees, but they do grow larger in diameter than any other tree in the eastern US. So you should aim for a trunk diameter of 1 to 2.5 m (3 to 10 ft). 8 feet).
Look for zigzag twigs. The twigs that grow from the branches do so in one direction and then switch to another just after a bud emerges so that a slightly lightning-like zigzag shape is created.
Identify it based on the leaves
It has five defined lobes. The lobes constitute a separate section of the leaf that spreads out radially from the central point, a bit like the fingers of the hand. Most sycamore leaves have five large lobes, with a distinct vein running along each lobe.
Some sycamore leaves may only have three lobes, but five is most common.
Sycamore leaves are typically well over 4 inches (10 cm) wide from the tip of one lobe to the tip of the opposite one
Look for a single leaf joined at a point. Sycamores have alternate leaves, meaning that a single leaf is attached to the stem at one point and the leaves alternate from one side to the other as you move down the stem.
This is unlike when two leaves are attached to a stem at the same point. This is known as opposite leaves.
Feel for a slightly uneven edge. The leaves will have many rounded “teeth” along the edges and a slightly serrated appearance.
Look for a dark green or yellow color. During the summer and spring the leaves will be dark green and then during the fall they will turn yellow and then fall off for the winter.
Identify it based on the flowers and fruits
Inspect the tree for small, woody balls. During the fall, sycamores produce a small, woody ball on a long stem, which is the fruit. The sycamore trees of the USA produce them in the form of single, pendulum-like shoots, while in non-native hybrid relatives there may be two or three such shoots hanging from a single stem.
Look for the “helicopter” seeds. Sycamore seeds are arranged in V-shaped pairs that are often nicknamed “helicopters” because of the way they swirl and spin as they fall from the tree. In this way, the tree has a greater area for the dispersal of the seeds, since the seeds can fly further. Look for these seeds in clusters at the ends of twigs or on the ground below the tree.
Look for small, greenish-yellow flowers. Sycamores produce both male and female flowers on the same tree, but they grow on different stems. Their stamen is white and they have very small and thin light green or yellow petals.
