Acer pseudoplatanus

Acer pseudoplatanus was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum in 1753. It is the type species in the maple genus Acer, which is in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. Many forms and varieties have been proposed, including natural varieties such as var. macrocarpum Spach, var. microcarpum Spach, and var. tomentosum Tausch, and forms such as f. erythrocarpum (Carrière) Pax, f. purpureum (Loudon) Rehder, and f. variegatum (Weston) Rehder. These are all now considered to be synonyms of Acer pseudoplatanus L.

The specific name pseudoplatanus refers to the superficial similarity of the leaves and bark of the sycamore to those of plane trees in the genus Platanus, the prefix pseudo- (from Ancient Greek) meaning "false". However, the two genera are in different families that are only distantly related. Acer and Platanus differ in the position in which leaves are attached to the stem (alternate in Platanus, paired or opposite in Acer) and in their fruit, which are spherical clusters in Platanus and paired samaras (winged fruit) in Acer.{{cite web |url=http://www.londontrees.co.uk/sycamore.html |title=The Tower of London: Sycamore |work=Trees of London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027123212/http://www.londontrees.co.uk/sycamore.html |access-date=19 May 2016|archive-date=2022-10-27 }}

The common name "sycamore" was originally applied to the fig species Ficus sycomorus, the sycamore or sycomore referred to in the Bible, that is native to Africa and Southwest Asia.{{cite web |url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sycamore/ |title=Sycamore |last=Easton |first=M.G. |year=1897 |work=Easton's Bible Dictionary |publisher=Thomas Nelson |access-date=3 March 2016}} Other common names for the tree include false plane-tree,{{GRIN |access-date=18 May 2016}} great maple, Scottish maple, mount maple,{{cite web |title=CENGIA PRADA |url=http://www.arpa.veneto.it/rete-ea/retedamb_area.php?id=286 |publisher=arpa.veneto.it | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120004413/http://www.arpa.veneto.it/rete-ea/retedamb_area.php?id=286 |language=it |access-date=19 May 2016| archive-date=2015-11-20 }} mock-plane,{{Tropicos|200008|Acer pseudoplatanus|L.|access-date=19 May 2016}}{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=L.H. |last2=Bailey |first2=E.Z. |date=1976 |title=Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=0025054708 |url=https://archive.org/details/hortusthirdconci00bail }} or Celtic maple.{{cite book |last=Milner |first=E. |title=Trees of Britain and Ireland |publisher=Natural History Museum |location=London |isbn=978-0565092955 |year=2011}}

File:Acer pseudoplatanusAA.jpg

File:Acer pseudoplatanus Chaltenbrunnen.jpg

File:Ahornallee zwischen Altweitra und Hörmanns 2017-10.jpg]]

The sycamore is a large, broad-leaved deciduous tree that reaches {{convert|20|-|35|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall at maturity, the branches forming a broad, domed crown. The bark of young trees is smooth and grey but becomes rougher with age and breaks up into scales, exposing the pale-brown-to-pinkish inner bark.{{cite book |last1=Clapham |first1=A.R. |last2=Tutin |first2=T.G. |last3=Warburg |first3=E.F. |title=Excursion Flora of the British Isles |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=third |date=1981 |isbn=0521232902}}{{rp|118}}

File:Acer pseudoplatanus buds 01.jpg

The buds are produced in opposite pairs, ovoid (approximately oval in shape) and pointed, with the bud scales (the modified leaves that enclose and protect the bud) green, edged in dark brown and with dark brown tips, {{convert|0.5–1|cm|in|frac=8}}. When the leaves are shed they leave horseshoe-shaped marks called leaf scars on the stem. The leaves are opposite, large, {{convert|10|to|25|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long and broad, palmate with 5 pointed lobes that are coarsely toothed or serrated.{{cite book |last=Stace |first=C.A. |author-link=Clive A. Stace |title=New Flora of the British Isles |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |edition=third |year=2010 |isbn=9780521707725}}{{rp|372}} They have a leathery texture with thick veins protruding on the underside. They are dark green in colour with a paler underside. Some cultivars have purple-tinged or yellowish leaves. The leaf stalk or petiole is {{convert|5|to|15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long, is often tinged red{{cite book |last=Rushforth |first=K. |date=1999 |title=A photographic guide to the trees of Britain and Europe |publisher=Collins |location=London |isbn=0-00-220013-9}} with no stipules or leaf-like structures at the base.

The functionally monoecious or dioecious{{CN|date=November 2024|reason = Can it indeed be dioecious? If it can we need a ref, and expansion in the Botany para.}} yellow-green flowers are produced after the leaves in early summer, in May or June in the British Isles,{{rp|394}}{{cite book|last1=Blamey|first1=M.|last2=Fitter|first2=R.|last3=Fitter|first3=A.|year=2003|title=Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora|publisher=A & C Black|location=London|isbn=978-1408179505}}{{rp|396}} on pendulous panicles {{convert|10|to|20|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long with about 60–100 flowers on each stalk. The fruits are paired winged seeds or samaras, the seeds {{convert|5|to|10|mm|in|1|abbr=on|frac=8}} in diameter, each with a wing {{convert|20|to|40|mm|in|1|abbr=on|frac=8}} long developed as an extension of the ovary wall. The wings are held at about right angles to each other, distinguishing them from those of A. platanoides and A. campestre, in which the wings are almost opposite, and from those of A. saccharum, in which they are almost parallel. When shed, the wing of the samara catches the wind and rotates the fruit as it falls, slowing its descent and enabling the wind to disperse it further from the parent tree. The seeds are mature in autumn about four months after pollination.{{cite book |last1=Humphries |first1=C.J. |last2= Press |first2=J.R. |last3=Sutton |first3=D.A. |date=1992 |title=Trees of Britain and Europe |publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd. |location=UK |isbn=060057511X}}

The sycamore is tetraploid (each cell having four sets of chromosomes, 2n=52), whereas A. campestre and A. platanoides are diploid (with 2 sets of chromosomes, 2n=26).

Sycamore trees produce their flowers in hanging branched clusters known as panicles that contain a variety of different flower types. Most are morphologically bisexual, with both male and female organs, but function as if they were unisexual. Some are both morphologically and functionally male, others morphologically bisexual but function as males, and still others are morphologically bisexual but function as females. All of the flower types can produce pollen, but the pollen from functionally female flowers does not germinate. All flowers produce nectar, the functionally female flowers producing it in greater volume and with a higher sugar content.{{cite web |url=http://www.mikepalmer.co.uk/woodyplantecology/sycamore/sexexp.htm |title=Sycamore: sex expression |last=Binggeli |first=P. |year=1999 |access-date=13 March 2016}}

Sycamore trees are very variable across their wide range and have strategies to prevent self-pollination, which is undesirable because it limits the genetic variation of the progeny and may depress their vigour.{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=S.I. |last2=Kalisz |first2=S. |last3=Slotte |first3=T. |title=Evolutionary consequences of self-fertilization in plants |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=280 |issue=1760 |pages=20130133| year=2013 |pmid=23595268 |pmc=3652455 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.0133}} Most inflorescences are formed of a mixture of functionally male and functionally female flowers. On any one tree, one or other of these flower types opens first and the other type opens later. Some trees may be male-starters in one year and female-starters in another. The change from one sex to the other may take place on different dates in different parts of the crown, and different trees in any one population may come into bloom over the course of several weeks, so that cross-pollination is encouraged, although self-pollination may not be completely prevented.

The sycamore may hybridise with other species in Acer section Acer, including with A. heldreichii where their natural ranges overlap and with A. velutinum. Intersectional hybrids with A. griseum (Acer section Trifoliata) are also known, in which the basal lobes of the leaf are reduced in size, making the leaves appear almost three-lobed (trifoliate).{{cite web |title=Maple hybrids |url=http://www.maplesociety.org/sites/default/files/SymposiumBelgium2011/Acerhybrids-PietDeJong.pdf |publisher=The Maple Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315120429/http://www.maplesociety.org/sites/default/files/SymposiumBelgium2011/Acerhybrids-PietDeJong.pdf |access-date=18 May 2016|archive-date=2016-03-15 }}

The sycamore is native to central and eastern Europe and western Asia. Its natural range includes Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, southern Russia, Spain, Switzerland, East Thrace and the former Yugoslavia.{{cite web |title=Acer L. |url=http://www.floraiberica.es/floraiberica/texto/pdfs/09_113_01_Acer.pdf |publisher=Flora Iberica |access-date=15 March 2022 |page=82}}{{Cite report|author=Verbeek, I.; Copini, P.; Sass-Klaassen, U.; Dingemanse, A.; Buiteveld, J. |date=2021 |title=Herkomstenonderzoek van gewone esdoorn (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Nederland |url= |location= Wageningen |publisher=Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN), Wageningen University & Research |edition=CGN rapport 52 |page= |isbn= |doi=10.18174/551151}} Reports of it occurring in eastern Turkey have been found to refer to A. heldreichii subsp. trautvetteri.

It was probably introduced into Britain in the Tudor period by 1500{{cite book |first1=Q.C.B. |last1=Cronk |first2=J.L. |last2=Fuller |date=1995 |title=Plant invaders: the threat to natural ecosystems |publisher=Chapman & Hall Ltd. |location=London |isbn=0412483807 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/plantinvadersthr0000cron/page/241 241] |url=https://archive.org/details/plantinvadersthr0000cron/page/241}} and was first recorded in the wild in 1632 in Kent.{{cite book |first1=W. |last1=Milliken |first2=S. |last2=Bridgewater |date=2004 |title=Flora Celtica |publisher=Birlinn Ltd. |location=Edinburgh |isbn=1841583030 }}{{rp|28}} The date of its first introduction into Ireland is unclear, but the oldest specimen in Ireland is in County Cavan and dates from the seventeenth century.{{cite web |title=Flora of Northern Ireland, Acer pseudoplatanus L. |url=http://www.habitas.org.uk/flora/species.asp?item=3191 |publisher=National Museums of Northern Ireland |year=2010 |access-date=19 May 2016}} It was introduced into Sweden around 1770 with seeds obtained from Holland.{{cite book |title=Ur Försök til en Flora Oeconomica Sveciæ |first=A.J. |last=Retzius |date=1806 |publisher=Lundblad |location=Lund, Sweden}}{{cite book |last=Richardson |first=D.M. |title=Fifty years of invasion ecology: The legacy of Charles Elton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMRzXLmaXGMC&pg=PA76 |year=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-3000-7}}{{rp|76}}

The lack of old native names for it has been used to demonstrate its absence in Britain before introduction in around 1487, but this is challenged by the presence of an old Scottish Gaelic name for the tree, fior chrann which suggests a longer presence in Scotland at least as far back as the Gaelic settlement at Dál Riata in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. This would make it either an archaeophyte (a naturalised tree introduced by humans before 1500) or perhaps native if it can be seen to have reached Scotland without human intervention.{{cite journal |first=J.H. |last=Dickson |year=2001 |title=Alien vascular plants in Scotland:Concepts and consequences - Scotland no Hawai'i |journal=The Glasgow Naturalist |volume=23 |issue=supplement |pages=2–12 |publisher=Andersonian Naturalists of Glasgow |location=Glasgow, UK}}{{rp|6}} At the moment it is usually classified as a neophyte, a plant that is naturalised but arrived with humans on or after the year 1500. Today, the sycamore is present in 3,461 (89.7%) of hectads in Britain, more than any native tree species.{{cite book |last1=Stace |first1=C.A. |author1-link=Clive A. Stace |last2=Crawley |first2=M.J. |title=Alien plants |date=20 July 2015 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=London |isbn=9780007502141}}{{rp|388}}{{cite web |title=BSBI Distribution map Acer pseudoplatanus |url=http://bsbi.org/maps/?taxonid=2cd4p9h.etk#style=N4IgLgpgtgDgNgQ0gOQK5QEYQE4gFwgCMIAvkA |publisher=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) |access-date=18 May 2016}}

The sycamore has been introduced to suitable locations outside Europe as an attractive tree for park, street or garden. These include the United States, Canada, Australia (Victoria and Tasmania), Chile and New Zealand,{{cite web |title=Acer pseudoplatanus L. |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/3189870 |publisher=GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) |location=Denmark |access-date=18 May 2016}} Patagonia{{cite web |title=NNSS Acer pseudoplatanus Factsheet|url=https://www.nonnativespecies.org/non-native-species/information-portal/view/25 |publisher=GB Non-native species secretariat |date=2015 |access-date=30 July 2023}} and the laurel forests of Madeira and the Azores.{{cite book |last1=Sequeira|first1=M. |last2=Espírito-Santo |first2=M.D. |last3=Aguiar |first3=C. |last4=Capelo |first4=J. |last5=Honrado |first5=J. |date=2012 |title=Checklist da Flora de Portugal (Continental, Açores e Madeira) |publisher=ALFA (Associação Lusitana de Fitossociologia) |location=Lisbon |isbn=978-989-20-2690-9}}{{rp|74}} At the time of its introduction it was probably not appreciated that its prolific production of seeds might one day cause a problem to the landscape as it spread and out-competed native species.{{cite book |last1=Simberloff |first1=D. |last2=Rejmanek |first2=M. |title=Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hq5uc8O5pDQC&pg=PA334 |year=2011 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-94843-3}}{{rp|334}} The tree is now considered to be an environmental weed in some parts of Australia (Yarra Ranges, Victoria) and also Mount Macedon, near Daylesford, parts of the Dandenong Ranges, where it is naturalised in the eucalypt forests.{{cite web |title=Acer pseudoplatanus |url=http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/acer_pseudoplatanus.htm |work=Weeds of Australia |publisher=Queensland Government |date=2016 |access-date=19 May 2016}} The sycamore is also scattered in north-eastern Tasmania and also at Taroona, near the Derwent River, in southern Hobart. It is considered to be an invasive species in New Zealand,{{cite book |last=Howell |first=C. |title=Consolidated list of environmental weeds in New Zealand |publisher=Department of Conservation |location=Wellington, NZ |date=May 2008 |series=292 |isbn=978-0-478-14413-0}} Norway,{{cite web |url=http://www2.artsdatabanken.no/faktaark/Faktaark244.pdf |title=Platanlønn: Acer pseudoplatanus |language=no |work=ArtsDataBanken |access-date=19 May 2016}} and environmentally sensitive locations in the United Kingdom.{{cite web |url=http://www.ecotreecare.co.uk/woodland_management_sycamore.htm |title=Eco Tree Care & Conservation |publisher=Ecotreecare.co.uk |access-date=19 May 2016}}

In about 1870, the sycamore was introduced into the United States, and was planted in New York state and New Jersey. It was later cultivated as a park or street tree in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. By the early part of the 21st century, it was naturalised in fourteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.), and in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.{{cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/a/rsu5.org/invasive/maine-invasive-species/sycamore-maple-acer-pseudoplatanus |title=Sycamore Maple, Acer pseudoplatanus |work=The Maine Invasion |access-date=11 March 2016}} The United States Department of Agriculture considers it an invasive species.

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In its native range, the sycamore is a natural component of birch (Betula sp.), beech (Fagus sp.) and fir (Abies sp.) forests. It readily invades disturbed habitats such as forest plantations, abandoned farmland and brownfield land, railway lines and roadsides verges, hedgerows, native and semi-natural woodland. In New Zealand, it invades the high country tussock grassland. As an introduced, invasive species, it may degrade the laurel forest in Madeira and Portugal and is a potential threat to the rare endemic Madeiran orchid, Dactylorhiza foliosa.

It is tolerant of a wide range of soil types and pH, except heavy clay, and is at its best on nutrient-rich, slightly calcareous soils. The roots of the sycamore form highly specific beneficial mycorrhizal associations with the fungus Glomus hoi, which promotes phosphorus uptake from the soil.{{cite journal |first1=T. |last1=Helgason |first2=J.W. |last2=Merryweather |first3=J. |last3=Denison|first4=P. |last4=Wilson |first5=J.P.W. |last5=Young |first6=A.H. |last6=Fitter |title=Selectivity and functional diversity in arbuscular mycorrhizas of co-occurring fungi and plants from a temperate deciduous woodland|journal=Journal of Ecology |date=2002|volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=371–384 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00674.x|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/490/1/fitterah6.pdf |doi-access=free|bibcode=2002JEcol..90..371H }} Sycamore mycorrhizas are of the internal arbuscular mycorrhizal type, in which the fungus grows within the tissues of the root and forms branched, tree-like structures within the cells of the root cortex.

The larvae of a number of species of moth use the leaves as a food source. These include the sycamore moth (Acronicta aceris), the maple prominent (Ptilodon cucullina) and the plumed prominent (Ptilophora plumigera). The horse-chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella) occasionally lays its eggs on the sycamore, although 70% of the larvae do not survive beyond the second instar.{{cite book |title=Issues in Forestry Research and Application: 2011 Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OHZ8TMta80C&pg=PT24 |year=2012 |publisher=ScholarlyEditions |isbn=978-1-4649-6636-1}}{{rp|24}} The leaves attract aphids, and also the ladybirds and hoverflies that feed on them. The flowers produce copious amounts of nectar and pollen and are attractive to bees and other insects, and the seeds are eaten by small mammals such as voles and birds.{{cite web |url=https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/common-non-native-trees/sycamore/ |title=Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) |publisher=Woodland Trust |access-date=5 March 2016}} As an introduced plant, in Britain the sycamore has a relatively small associated insect fauna of about 15 species,{{cite journal |first=T.R.E. |last=Southwood |s2cid=55227920 |date=1961 |title=The number of species of insect associated with various trees |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.2307/2109 |jstor=2109|bibcode=1961JAnEc..30....1S }} but it does have a larger range of leafhoppers than does the native field maple.{{cite book|last1=Denno |first1=R.F.|last2=Perfect |first2=J.R.|title=Planthoppers: Their Ecology and Management |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7X4BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA450 |year=2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4615-2395-6 |page=450}}

The tree may also be attacked by the horse chestnut scale insect (Pulvinaria regalis), which sucks sap from the trunk and branches, but does not cause serious damage to the tree.{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=650 |title=Horse chestnut scale |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2016}} Sometimes squirrels will strip the bark off branches, girdling the stem; as a result whole branches may die, leaving brown, wilted leaves.

The sycamore gall mite Eriophyes macrorhynchus{{cite web |title=Eriophyes macrorhynchus (Nalepa, 1889) |url=https://data.nbn.org.uk/Taxa/NHMSYS0020917305 |publisher=Natural History Museum, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Joint Nature Conservation Committee, UK |access-date=19 May 2016}} produces small red galls, similar to those of the nail gall mite Eriophyes tiliae, on leaves of sycamore and field maple, Acer campestris from April onwards.{{cite book |last1=Buczacki |first1=S. |last2=Harris |first2=K. |author1-link=Stefan Buczacki |title=Collins shorter guide to the Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Garden Plants |year=1983 |publisher=Collins |location=London |isbn=0002190745}}{{rp|179}} Another mite, Aceria pseudoplatani causes a 'sycamore felt gall' on the underside of leaves of both sycamore and Norway maple (Acer platanoides).{{cite web |url=http://www.plantengallen.com/gb-gb/collectie/mijten.html |title=Aceria pseudoplatani |work=Gall mites |publisher=Plantengallen.com |access-date=19 May 2016}} The sycamore aphid Drepanosiphum platanoidis sucks sap from buds and foliage, producing large quantities of sticky honeydew that contaminate foliage, cars and garden furniture beneath.{{rp|119}}

The sycamore is susceptible to sooty bark disease, caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale. This causes wilting of the crown and the death of branches. Rectangular patches of bark become detached exposing thick layers of black fungal spores. The fungus may be present in the heartwood without symptoms for many years, working its way towards the bark following long, hot summers.{{cite web |url=http://bfw.ac.at/ws/sdis.schadenstyp_e?sdis_id_in=119 |title=Sooty bark disease of maples |publisher=Bundesamt für Wald |access-date=5 March 2016}} The spores are hyper-allergenic and cause a condition called maple bark stripper's disease, a hypersensitivity pneumonitis.{{cite journal |last1=Cochard |first1=B. |last2=Crovadore |first2=J. |last3=Bovigny |first3=P.Y. |last4=Chablais |first4=R. |last5=Lefort |first5=F. |date=2015 |title=First reports of Cryptostroma corticale causing sooty bark disease in Acer sp. in Canton Geneva, Switzerland. |journal=New Disease Reports |volume=31 |page=8 |doi=10.5197/j.2044-0588.2015.031.008 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Emanuel |first1=D.A. |last2=Wenzel |first2=F.J. |last3=Lawton |first3=B.R. |date=1966 |title=Pneumonitis due to Cryptostroma corticale (Maple-Bark Disease) |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=274 |issue=25 |pages=1413–1418 |doi=10.1056/NEJM196606232742504 |pmid=5949005}} Less serious is the fungus Rhytisma acerinum which often forms the disease known as tar spot, in which black spots with yellow margins form on the foliage. The leaves may fall prematurely but the vigour of the tree is little affected.{{cite web |title=Tar spot of maple |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=750 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=5 March 2016}} Sycamore leaf spot, caused by the fungus Cristulariella depraedans, results in pale blotches on leaves which later dry up and fall. This disease can cause moderate leaf loss but trees are little affected in the long run.{{cite web |title=Sycamore Leaf Spot |url=https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/trees-hedges-and-woodland/pests-and-diseases-affecting-trees/sycamore-leaf-spot/ |publisher=Cornwall Council |date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116011506/https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/trees-hedges-and-woodland/pests-and-diseases-affecting-trees/sycamore-leaf-spot/ |access-date=5 March 2016|archive-date=2018-01-16 }}

Fungal species Coniothyrium ferrarisianum has also been isolated from leaves of Acer pseudoplatanus in Italy in 1958.{{cite journal |last1=Bestagno-Biga |first1=M.L. |last2=Ciferri |first2=R. |last3=Bestagno |first3=G. |title=Ordinamento artificiale delle specie del genere Coniothyrium. |journal=Sydowia |date=1958 |volume=12 |pages=258–320}}

Horses eating seeds or emergent seedlings of A. pseudoplatanus can suffer from an often fatal condition of atypical myopathy.{{cite web |url=https://www.rainbowequinehospital.co.uk/information-on-sycamore-poisoning/ |title=Information On Sycamore Poisoning |publisher=Rainbow Equine Hospital |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-date=14 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814073047/http://www.rainbowequinehospital.co.uk/information-on-sycamore-poisoning/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rvc.ac.uk/equine-vet/news/equine-atypical-myopathy-toxin-and-biochemical-tests-and-tree-sample-testing-available-at-the-royal-veterinary-college |title=Equine Atypical Myopathy toxin and biochemical tests and tree sample testing available at the RVC |publisher=Royal Veterinary college - University of London |access-date=16 May 2017 |date=13 February 2017}}

File:Acer pseudoplatanus textura del tronco.jpg

Sycamore self-seeds very vigorously,{{rp|388}} the seeds germinating en masse in the spring so that there is little, or no, seed bank in the soil. It is readily propagated from seed in cultivation, but varieties cannot be relied on to breed true. Special cultivars such as A. pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum' may be propagated by grafting.{{cite web |title=Acer pseudoplatanus 'Brilliantissimum' |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=39 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |location=London |access-date=19 May 2016}}{{cite book |first=Francis |last=Ritter |date=1996 |title=The Royal Horticultural Society Plant Guides: Garden Trees |publisher=Dorling Kindersley Ltd. |location=London |isbn=0751301752}}{{rp|92}} This variety is notable for the bright salmon-pink colour of the young foliage and is the only sycamore cultivar to have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{rp|92}} A rare weeping form with dangling branches, A. pseudoplatanus var. pendulum, was first sold by Knight & Perry's exotic nursery in Chelsea, England, before 1850 when the name was published by W.H. Baxter in the Supplement to Loudon's Hortus Brittanicus, but no specimens of this cultivar are known to survive.{{Tropicos|100282025|Acer pseudoplatanus var. pendulum|W.H. Baxter |access-date=19 May 2016}}

The sycamore is noted for its tolerance of wind, urban pollution, salt spray, and low summer temperatures, which makes it a popular tree for planting in cities, along roads treated with salt in winter, and in coastal localities. It is cultivated and widely naturalised north of its native range in Northern Europe, notably in the British Isles and Scandinavia north to Tromsø, Norway (seeds can ripen as far north as Vesterålen); Reykjavík, Iceland; and Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands. It now occurs throughout the British Isles, having been probably introduced in the 16th century.{{cite book |first1=C.D. |last1=Preston |first2=D.A. |last2=Pearman |first3=T.D. |last3=Dines |date=2002 |title=New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora: An Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Britain, Ireland, The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198510673}}{{rp|439}}

Sycamores make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down and can therefore be coppiced to produce poles and other types of small timber. Its coppice stools grow comparatively rapidly, reaching as much as {{convert|1.3|m}} in length in the first year after initial harvesting.{{cite web |last=Harmer |first=Ralph |title=Management of Forest Stools |url=https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/documents/992/rin259.pdf |publisher=UK Forestry Commission |page=3}}

It is grown as a species for medium-to-large bonsai in many areas of Europe, where some fine specimens can be found.{{cite web |last=D'Cruz |first=M. |title=Ma-Ke Bonsai Care Guide for Acer pseudoplatanus |publisher=Ma-Ke Bonsai |url=http://makebonsai.com/guide/bonsailink.asp?quicklink=5039&name=Acer_pseudoplatanus |access-date=19 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714022904/http://www.makebonsai.com/guide/bonsailink.asp?quicklink=5039&name=Acer_pseudoplatanus |archive-date=14 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}

Sycamore is planted in parks for ornamental purposes, and sometimes as a street tree, for its tolerance of air pollution makes it suitable for use in urban plantings. Owing to its tolerance to wind, it has often been planted in coastal and exposed areas as a windbreak.{{cite book |first=Oliver |last=Rackham |author-link=Oliver Rackham |date=2006 |title=Woodlands |publisher=Collins |isbn=0007202431}}

It produces a hard-wearing, white or cream close-grained timber that turns golden with age. The wood can be worked and sawn in any direction and is used for making musical instruments, furniture, joinery, wood flooring and parquetry. Because it is non-staining, is used for kitchen utensils, wooden spoons, bowls, rolling pins and chopping boards. In Scotland it has traditionally been used for making fine boxes, sometimes in association with contrasting, dark-coloured laburnum wood.{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishwood.co.uk/hardwoods.htm |title=Sycamore and maple |work=All about hardwoods |publisher=Scottish Wood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127204618/http://www.scottishwood.co.uk/hardwoods.htm |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-date=27 November 2019}}

Occasionally, trees produce wood with a wavy grain, greatly increasing the value for decorative veneers.{{Cite journal|author1=Rusanen, M. |author2=Myking, T.|title=Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus |url=http://www.euforgen.org/fileadmin/templates/euforgen.org/upload/Publications/Technical_guidelines/853_Technical_guidelines_for_genetic_conservation_and_use_for_Sycamore__Acer_pseudoplatanus_.pdf |journal=EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for Genetic Conservation and Use|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020035534/http://www.euforgen.org/fileadmin/templates/euforgen.org/upload/Publications/Technical_guidelines/853_Technical_guidelines_for_genetic_conservation_and_use_for_Sycamore__Acer_pseudoplatanus_.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-20 }} The wood is a medium weight for a hardwood, weighing 630 kg per cubic metre.{{cite web |title=Sycamore |url=http://www.nichetimbers.co.uk/native-hardwood/sycamore/ |publisher=Niche Timbers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308162011/http://www.nichetimbers.co.uk/native-hardwood/sycamore/ |access-date=19 May 2016|archive-date=2012-03-08 }} It is a traditional wood for use in making the backs, necks and scrolls of violins. The wood is often marketed as rippled sycamore.{{cite web |url=http://www.ashs.co.uk/content/blogcategory/54/78/ |title=Sycamore – Acer pseudoplatanus |publisher=Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers (ASHS) |access-date=19 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827151452/http://www.ashs.co.uk/content/blogcategory/54/78/ |archive-date=27 August 2014}} Whistles can be made from straight twigs when the rising sap allows the bark to be separated,{{cite web |url=http://www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk/bushcraft-how-to/making-a-sycamore-twig-whistle |title=Making a Sycamore Twig Whistle |publisher=Dryad Bushcraft |access-date=10 March 2016}} and these, and sycamore branches, are used in customs associated with early May in Cornwall.{{cite web |url=http://www.mikepalmer.co.uk/woodyplantecology/sycamore/lore.htm |title=Sycamore lore |last=Binggeli |first=P. |year=1993 |work=Plant-Lore Notes & News |access-date=10 March 2016}} The wood is used for fuel, being easy to saw and to split with an axe, producing a hot flame and good embers when burnt.{{cite book |last=Johns |first=C.A. |date=1847 |title=The forest trees of Britain |volume=1 |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |location=London}}

In Scotland, sycamores were once a favoured tree for hangings, because their lower branches rarely broke under the strain. Both male and female flowers produce abundant nectar, which makes a fragrant, delicately flavoured and pale-coloured honey. The nectar and copious dull yellow ochre pollen are collected by honeybees as food sources.{{cite book |last=Hodges |first=D. |year=1952 |title=The pollen loads of the honeybee |publisher=Bee Research Association Ltd. |location=London}}{{rp|4,46}}{{cite web |title=Bee Trees - Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) |url=http://beespoke.info/2014/01/20/bee-trees-sycamore/ |publisher=Beespoke.info |date=20 January 2014 |access-date=19 May 2016}} The sap rises vigorously in the spring and like that of sugar maple can be tapped to provide a refreshing drink, as a source of sugar and to make syrup or beer.{{rp|57}}{{cite web |last=Fagan |first=S. |title=Bushcraft Uses of Sycamore |url=http://www.pioneerbushcraft.org/nature-articles/bushcraft-articles/7-bushcraft-uses-of-sycamore/ |publisher=Pioneer Bushcraft |access-date=6 March 2016}}

File:The Martyrs tree - geograph.org.uk - 1277399.jpg in Dorset, England, is regarded by some as the birthplace of the British trades union movement.]]

Under this sycamore tree at Tolpuddle in Dorset, England, six agricultural labourers, known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, formed an early trades union in 1834. They were found to have breached the Unlawful Oaths Act 1797 and were transported to Australia. The subsequent public outcry led to their release and return.{{cite web |url=http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/discoveries/newdiscoveries/2009/The+Tolpuddle+Martyrs+Tree |title=The Tolpuddle Martyrs Tree |date=2009 |website=www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk |publisher=The Woodland Trust |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081120/http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/discoveries/newdiscoveries/2009/The+Tolpuddle+Martyrs+Tree |access-date=27 November 2014|archive-date=2018-01-16 }} The tree now has a girth of 5.9 metres (19 feet, 4 inches){{cite web |url=http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=9A46655C-A256-457D-864C-585484341148 |title=Sycamore at SY78959444 |date=10 July 2008 |publisher=The Woodland Trust |access-date=27 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204172402/http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk/recording/tree.htm?tree=9A46655C-A256-457D-864C-585484341148 |archive-date=4 December 2014}} and a 2005 study dated the tree to 1680.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/4679191.stm |title=Tolpuddle tree dated back to 1680 |date=14 July 2005 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=27 November 2014}} The tree is cared for by the National Trust, which has pollarded the tree in 2002 and 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-29948177 |title=Tolpuddle Martyrs village tree pruning carried out |date=7 November 2014 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=27 November 2014}}

An ancient sycamore (sometimes described as a "plane") with distinctive yellow foliage formerly stood in the village of Corstorphine, now a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. The tree was reputedly planted in the 15th century and is named as the form Acer pseudoplatanus f. corstorphinense Schwer. Not only was it claimed to be the "largest sycamore in Scotland" but also the scene of James Lord Forrester's murder in 1679.{{cite web |url=http://www.corstorphine-trust.ukgo.com/CorstorphineTopics/SycamoreTree.html |title=The Corstorphine Sycamore Tree |last1=Cowper |first1=A.S. |last2=Aitchison |first2=K. |date=2001 |website=www.corstorphine-trust.ukgo.com |publisher=The Corstorphine Trust |access-date=27 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102071037/http://www.corstorphine-trust.ukgo.com/CorstorphineTopics/SycamoreTree.html |archive-date=2 November 2014}} The tree was blown down in a storm on Boxing Day 1998, but a replacement, grown from a cutting, now stands in the churchyard of Corstorphine Kirk.{{cite web |url=http://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/newsitefiles/eAweb2010/32CapitalTrees.pdf |title=Capital Trees |last1=Hendrie |first1=J. |date=2010 |website=www.forestryjournal.co.uk |publisher=The Forestry Journal |access-date=27 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204203017/http://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/newsitefiles/eAweb2010/32CapitalTrees.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2014}} The tree is commemorated in the badge of the Corstorphine Bowling Club of Edinburgh, designed in 1950 to feature the Corstorphine sycamore tree and a single horn, and redesigned in 1991 for the club's centenary.{{cite web |title=Club history |date=30 April 2012 |publisher=Corstorphine Bowling Club |url=http://www.corstorphinebowlingclub.co.uk/about-us/cbc-history/ |access-date=19 May 2016}}

The Newbattle Abbey sycamore near Dalkeith, planted in 1550, was the specimen with the earliest known planting date in Scotland. It had achieved a girth of {{convert|5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and a height of {{convert|26|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}{{cite book |last1=Stiven |first1=R. |last2=Holl |first2=K. |date=2004 |title=Wood Pasture |location=Perth, UK |publisher=Scottish Natural Heritage |isbn=1853973866 |url=https://archive.org/details/woodpasture0000stiv |access-date=2016-03-05 |url-access=registration}}{{rp|6}} by the time it was toppled by a gale in May 2006 at the age of 456 years.{{cite web |title=Ancient Sycamore Returned to Newbattle Abbey College Grounds|publisher=Newbattle Abbey College |url=http://www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk/ancient-sycamore-returned-to-newbattle-abbey-college-grounds/|access-date=19 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504033818/http://www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk/ancient-sycamore-returned-to-newbattle-abbey-college-grounds/|archive-date=4 May 2016|url-status=dead}}

Saint Fintan founded a monastery at Clonenagh in County Laois, Ireland, in the sixth century and it had a spring beside it. This was considered holy and was visited by pilgrims. In the nineteenth century, a Protestant land owner, annoyed at people visiting the site, filled the well in, whereupon the water started to flow into the hollow interior of a sycamore tree on the other side of the road. Filled with amazement, people hung rags on the tree and pressed coins into its trunk as votive offerings and it became known as the "Money Tree". Some years later, it fell down, but new shoots appeared from its base, and the water still welled up. It remains a place of veneration on St Fintan's day, February 17.{{cite book |last=Hayes |first=N. |title=Laois folk tales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRlmCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |year=2015 |publisher=History Press |isbn=978-0-7509-6568-2}}{{rp|84–85}}

{{main|Sycamore Gap Tree}}

The Sycamore Gap Tree or Robin Hood Tree was a sycamore tree standing next to Hadrian's Wall near Crag Lough in Northumberland, England. It was located in a dramatic dip in the landscape and was a popular photographic subject, described as one of the most photographed trees in the country. It derived its alternative name from featuring in a prominent scene in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. According to the National Trust, the tree was planted in the late 19th century{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/news/our-statement-on-the-felling-of-the-sycamore-gap-tree|title=Our statement on the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree|date=29 September 2023|access-date=30 September 2023|website=nationaltrust.org.uk|archive-date=30 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930182628/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/news/our-statement-on-the-felling-of-the-sycamore-gap-tree|url-status=live}} and once stood with others, but they had been removed over time, possibly to improve sightlines or for gamekeeping purposes.{{cite web |title=Read about Sycamore Gap |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hadrians-wall-and-housesteads-fort/features/sycamore-gap |publisher=National Trust |access-date=10 August 2018}} It was felled overnight on 28 September 2023; a police investigation was launched the following day.{{cite web |title=Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian's Wall 'felled overnight' |work=BBC News |date=28 September 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66947040 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=28 September 2023}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.euforgen.org/species/acer-pseudoplatanus/ Acer pseudoplatanus] - distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)
• {{PFAF|Acer pseudoplatanus}}
• {{Commons-inline}}
• {{Wikispecies inline}}

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pseudoplatanus

Category:Trees of Europe

Category:Flora of the Caucasus

Category:Garden plants of Europe

Category:Ornamental trees

Category:Trees of humid continental climate

Category:Trees of mild maritime climate

Category:Melliferous flowers

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus