OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Proteales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanus occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America

Platanus occidentalis

SYNONYMOUS WITH Revision of the Mexican and Guatemalan species of Platanus (Platanaceae) (Nixon & Poole, 2003)

Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 096-01-001:

Platanus occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Platanus occidentalis

 

COMMON NAME:
American Sycamore, Planetree


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux    dcp34_p38

        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm191222_2370_p_occident

    Clay County    AL

Cheaha State Park

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_404

        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_405

        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_ploc_001_lvd

        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_ploc_003_lvd

        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Alan S. Weakley    asw_3396984000516934

January        

Lateral buds conical, 1-scaled, nearly encircled by leaf scars, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0401e_37

January    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0302c_23

February    Greenville County    SC

Fruit a pendant, globular head of achenes, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0302c_24

February    Greenville County    SC

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0502b_06

February    Greenville County    SC

Upper stems smooth & white, lower trunk brown & scaly or furrowed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm130225_319

February    Cherokee County    NC

Murphy River Walk

The most massive trees in eastern US, they can be over 100' tall & 10' wide, per Teaching the Trees (Maloof, 2007).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    s050316_l

March    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

Leaf scars alternate; terminal bud lacking; stipule scars ringlike; buds 1-scaled.

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm160423_451

April    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Keith Bradley    kab_p_occidentalis_5307

April    Caldwell County    NC

Pisgah National Forest

Pistillate heads rusty to dark red, staminate heads yellowish-green, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_occidentalis_3

April        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0306g_17

June    Greenville County    SC

Leaves palmately veined, with 3-5 coarsely toothed lobes, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm0306h_29

June    Greenville County    SC

Prominent, leaf-like stipules encircle the twig, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_occidentalis_4

July        

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_occidentalis_6

August        

One of the largest trees in eastern North America, per Weakley's Flora (2020).

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

JK Marlow    jkm061104_049

November    Swain County    NC

Cherokee Indian Reservation

The exposed white inner bark of mid & upper trunk recognizable at a distance, per Weakley's Flora.

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Keith Bradley    kab_p_occidentalis_3322

December    Chester County    SC

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_occidentalis_1

December    Fulton County    GA

Chattahoochee Nature Center

image of Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis, American Sycamore, Planetree

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_occidentalis_5

Month Unknown        

One fruiting head per peduncle, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Platanus occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Platanus occidentalis

SYNONYMOUS WITH Revision of the Mexican and Guatemalan species of Platanus (Platanaceae) (Nixon & Poole, 2003)
Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 096-01-001:
Platanus occidentalis   FAMILY Platanaceae

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Platanus occidentalis var. occidentalis

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Platanus occidentalis

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1103

Tree
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: Riverbanks and alluvial forests, streambanks, sometimes weedy on rocky roadcuts, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pistillate heads dark red, staminate heads yellowish-green
3-6 sepals in staminate flowers, 3-4 sepals in pistillate flowers
Petals absent in pistillate flowers, nearly obsolete in staminate flowers
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Tawny
Achene

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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