The Sycamore or Sycamore Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is one of the most common maples in Europe, native to central Europe from France east to Poland, and south (in mountains) to northernmost Spain and Turkey.
It is a deciduous tree that reaches 20 – 35 m tall at maturity, with a broad, domed crown. On young trees, the bark is smooth and grey but becomes rougher with age and breaks up in scales, exposing the pale-brown-to-pinkish inner bark.
The leaves are opposite, 10 - 25 cm long and broad with a 5 - 15cm petiole, palmately-veined with five lobes with toothed edges, and dark green in colour; some cultivars have purple-tinged or yellowish leaves.
The monoecious yellow-green flowers are produced in spring on 10-20 cm pendulous racemes, with 20-50 flowers on each stalk. The 5-10 mm diameter seeds are paired in samaras, each seed with a 20-40 mm long wing to catch the wind and rotate when they fall; this helps them to spread further from the parent tree. The seeds are mature in autumn about 6 months after pollination.
Cultivation
The Sycamore Maple is noted for its tolerance of urban pollution and salt spray, 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
