font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Acer pseudoplatanus

(Sycamore)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Sycamore, Great Maple, Scottish Maple, Sycamore Maple

Common Names in French:

érable Sycomore

Common Names in German:

Bergahorn

Common Names in unspecified:

Sycamore, Sycamore Maple

Description

[ Back to top ]

Family Sapindaceae

Trees or shrubs (or woody vines with tendrils in Cardiospermum and allied genera), rarely herbaceous climbers . Indumentum usually of simple hairs , often glandular on young parts, buds, and inflorescences. Leaves alternate, usually estipulate; leaf blade pinnate or digitate, rarely simple; leaflets alternate to opposite, entire or dentate to serrate. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary thyrse ; bracts and bracteoles small. Flowers unisexual , rarely polygamous or bisexual , actinomorphic or zygomorphic, usually small. Sepals 4 or 5(or 6), equal or unequal, free or connate at base , imbricate or valvate . Petals 4 or 5(or 6), sometimes absent, free, imbricate, usually clawed, often with scales or hair-tufted basal appendages . Disk conspicuous , fleshy , complete or interrupted , lobed or annular , rarely absent. Stamens 5-10(-74), usually 8, rarely numerous , variously inserted but usually within disk, often exserted in male flowers; filaments free, rarely connate; anthers dorsifixed , longitudinally dehiscent , introrse ; staminodes sometimes present in carpellate flowers, but filaments shorter and anthers with a thick wall, indehiscent. Ovary superior, (1-) 3(or 4) -loculed; ovules 1 or 2(or several) per locule, placentation axile , rarely parietal , anatropous , campylotropous, or amphitropous ; style usually apical (terminal), semigynobasic in Allophylus [gynobasic in Deinbollia Schumacher & Thonning]; stigma entire or 2 or 3(or 4) -lobed, usually rudimentary in male flowers. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, berry, or drupe, or consisting of 2 or 3 samaras, often 1-seeded and 1-loculed by abortion . Seeds 1(or 2 or more) per locule; testa black or brown, hard, often with a conspicuous fleshy aril or sarcotesta ; embryo curved , plicate , or twisted, oily and starchy; endosperm usually absent. 2n = 20-36.

One hundred thirty-five genera and ca. 1500 species: widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, especially well represented in tropical SE Asia; 21 genera (one endemic) and 52 species (16 endemic, one introduced ) in China.

There is some variation in the circumscription of Sapindaceae in taxonomic treatments, particularly with regard to the inclusion of genera from the closely related, predominately temperate families Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Several studies including Müller and Leenhouts (in Ferguson & Müller, Evolutionary Significance Exine: 407-445. 1976), and more recently those based on molecular data (Stevens, Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, 2001 onward; Harrington et al. , Syst. Bot. 30: 366-382. 2005), supported the recognition of a broadly defined Sapindaceae incorporating Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae. Harrington et al. (loc. cit. ) proposed four subfamilies or clades, comprising Sapindoideae (including

Koelreuteria and Ungnadia Endlicher), Dodonaeoideae, Hippocastanoideae (including taxa previously referred to Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae, plus Handeliodendron), and a monotypic "Xanthoceratoideae". Within Hippocastanoideae, Acer Linnaeus and Dipteronia Oliver comprise a monophyletic group and are treated in this Flora as Aceraceae. Similarly, Aesculus Linnaeus, Billia Peyritsch, and the Chinese endemic Handeliodendron Rehder form a monophyletic group and are treated here as Hippocastanaceae. There is some support for "Xanthoceratoideae" being the first lineage to diverge within the broadly defined Sapindaceae assemblage; consequently, Xanthoceras is treated separately from genera in Sapindoideae and Dodonaeoideae in the following account of Sapindaceae s.s. The sequence of genera reflects Müller and Leenhouts (loc. cit.) as modified by recent analyses based on molecular and morphological data, rather than following the order developed by Radlkofer (Sitzungsber. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. München 20: 105-379. 1890; and in Engler, Pflanzenreich 98a-h(IV . 165) : 1-1539. 1931-1934), which was previously followed in FRPS.

The main economic uses of this family include (1) timber: Amesiodendron chinense, Dimocarpus longan, D. confinis, Litchi chinensis, Pavieasia kwangsiensis, and Pometia pinnata; (2) fruit: Dimocarpus longan, Litchi chinensis, and Nephelium lappaceum; (3) medicine: Dimocarpus longan (arillode ), Litchi chinensis (seeds), and Sapindus saponaria (roots ) ; (4) oil : Amesiodendron chinense, Delavaya toxocarpa, and Xanthoceras sorbifolium. Saponins occur widely in the family, commonly used as a fish poison and for their detergent properties.[1]

Physical Description

ID Features: Thick leathery leaves. Large, plump buds remain green in the winter which separates them from. similar Acer platanoides buds which turn purplish.

Habit: Deciduous tree with upright spreading branches, oval to rounded outline. Foliage and branching typically dense and compact . • Growth Form: Single Stem • Shape and Orientation: Erect

Flowers: Yellowish green, in May. • Bloom Period: Late Spring • Flower Color: Yellow • Flower Conspicuous: No

Seeds: Seed per Pound: 5920 • Seed Spread Rate: Moderate • Seedling Vigor: Medium • Fruit: Samaras, 1.25" to 2". In pendulous clusters . • Fruit/Seed Abundance: High • Fruit/Seed Color: Brown • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: Yes • Cold Stratification Required: Yes

Foliage: Foliage Color: Yellow-Green • Summer foliage: High quality. Opposite, 5-lobed with 2 basal lobes much smaller than the 3 primary lobes. 3" to 6" across. Dark green above, greenish white on underside. Leathery with impressed veins. Coarsely toothed margins . • Fall foliage: Generally poor. Yellowish or greenish brown. • Foliage Porosity Summer: Dense • Foliage Porosity Winter: Porous • Foliage Texture: Coarse • Fall Conspicuous: Yes • Leaf Retention: No

Size/Age/Growth

Active Growth Period: Spring and Summer • Growth Rate: Moderate • Mature Height (feet): 100.0 • Maximum Height at 20 Years (feet): 60 • Size: Medium to large tree , 40' to 60' tall or more. • Vegetative Spread Rate: None • Lifespan: Lifespan

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Shade tree for lawns of parks, campuses, public areas. Good choice for coastal areas. Good choice for alkaline soils . • Liabilities: Cankers (nectria). Aphids and sooty mold. Stem borers . Can develop considerable dead wood requiring removal. Twig kill can occur in cold winters.

Habitat

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial • Coppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: Yes • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Spring • Fruit/Seed Period End: Summer • Fruit/Seed Persistence: No

Growth

Culture: Easily transplanted and established . Very adaptable. Tolerates salt and seaside locations. Tolerates high pH, calcareous soils. Full sun best, can take light shade. Prefers cool environment; not for southern states. Tolerant of exposed areas.

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: No • Anaerobic Tolerance: None • Salinity Tolerance: None • CaCO3 Tolerance: Low • Minimum pH: 5.8 • Maximum pH: 7.0 • Fertility Requirement: Medium

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade. • Shade Tolerance: Intolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Medium • Minimum Precipitation: 32 • Maximum Precipitation: 60 • Moisture Use: Medium

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): -23°F. • Minimum Frost Free Days: 140 • Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]
Last Revised: 5/18/2012