Plane Tree

The Platanus Occidentalis is commonly known as American Sycamore, Buttonball Tree, Plane Tree, as well as Sycamore

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Growing Regions

The range of sycamore extends from southwestern Maine west to extreme southern Ontario, southern Wisconsin, Iowa, and extreme eastern Nebraska; south to south-central Texas; and east to northwestern Florida and southeastern Georgia. It also occurs in the mountains of northeastern Mexico [30,35,50]. Sycamore has become naturalized to some extent from plantations outside of its native range, chiefly in southern Maine, southern Michigan, southern Minnesota, and eastern and southern Iowa [35].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name for sycamore is Platanus occidentalis L. (Platanaceae) [13,35,48,50]. There are no accepted infrataxa. The London plane tree (P. xacerifolia [Ait.] Willd.) is a hybrid of Oriental plane (P. orientalis) and sycamore and perhaps includes a number of backcrosses [50,78].

Sycamore is found in quantity only in bottomland forests, particularly
of elm-ash-cottonwood (Ulmus spp.-Fraxinus spp.-Populus deltoides) types
as defined by Shifley and others [66], and cottonwood-willow (Salix
spp.) types.  It usually occurs singly or in small groups [78].
Sycamore is found occasionally along intermittent streams within upland
stands of oak-hickory (Quercus spp.-Carya spp.) communities.  It is a
major pioneer species in the floodplains of large rivers [74].  In the
Southeast pure stands of 40 to 100 acres (16-40 ha) are sometimes
formed; it rarely forms extensive pure stands in the northern parts of
its range [78].  In the northern states sycamore is rarely the dominant
species; it increases (replacing silver maple [Acer saccharinum]) with
decreasing latitude [27].

Sycamore is listed as a dominant or indicator species in the following
publications:

1) The natural forests of Maryland: an explanation of the vegetation map
     of Maryland [14]
2) The natural communities of South Carolina [58]
3) Land Classification in the Blue Ridge province: state-of-the-science
     report [55]
4) Forest management of floodplain sites in the northeastern United
     States [56]
5) Management of bottomland hardwoods [61]
6) Ecological communities of New York State [63]
7) Classification and evaluation of forest sites on the northern Cumberland
     Plateau [68]
8) Classification and evaluation of forest sites on the Natchez Trace State
     Forest, State Resort Park, and Wildlife Management Area in west
     Tennessee [69]

• More Plane Tree Information

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