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Sunlight on sycamore tree leaves

Sycamore

Sycamores are wonderfully hardy and robust trees, growing in places that would stunt most others. Introduced to Britain from Europe sometime during the Middle Ages, they spread rapidly and colonised new areas. Sycamore trees posses a shadiness that helped them to quickly become a favourite of parks, avenues, gardens and farms. The autumn is when sycamore trees really stand out. The winged seeds playfully descend to earth like little helicopters and the the dark green five-lobed leaves turn a beautiful deep golden colour.

Scientific name: Acer pseudoplatanus

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • Maple sycamore,
  • Plane tree,
  • Sycamore maple

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Distribution

The Sycamore can be found in a number of locations including: Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Sycamore distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

About

Acer pseudoplatanus, the sycamore or sycamore maple, is a species of maple native to Central Europe and Southwestern Asia, from France eastwards to Ukraine, and south in mountains to northern Spain, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus. It is not related to other trees called sycamore or plane tree in the genus Platanus. The superficial similarity of the leaves of Acer pseudoplatanus to those of Platanus led to its being named pseudoplatanus, using the prefix pseudo- (from the Ancient Greek for "false"). Acer and Platanus differ in their leaf insertion (alternate in Platanus, paired or opposite in Acer) and in their fruit, which are spherical clusters in Platanus and paired samaras in Acer.

Other common names for the tree include false plane-tree,great maple,Scottish maple,mock-plane,sycamore, or Celtic maple.

Read more at Wikipedia

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BBC News about Sycamore

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