Botanical name:                  Acer pseudoplatanus

Family:                                   Aceraceae

Common Name:                   Sycamore

 

Habitat and Distribution:

Native to central and southern Europe and W Asia.

Cultivated as a shelter tree in town streets and parks, also grown for its timber.

Trees are easily transplanted and established. They are very adaptable, tolerating calcareous soils, salt and seaside locations, but prefer full sun and a cool environment.

Description:

Deciduous tree to 30m (100ft) with a thickness up to 2.5 metres.

The leaves are 3-5 inches wide, palmately lobed and dark green, with red or pinkish yellow leaf stalks. The autumn foliage is generally poor with the leaves turning a yellowish or greenish brown.

Clusters of tiny yellow-green flowers open in April as hanging spikes 6-12 cm long, the give rise to winged fruits, 2.5 cm long, which often turn bright red during the summer.

The bark is irregularly scaly, steel grey with orange colour showing where bark flakes off.

Timber:

When grown in a forest location trees can produce clear, straight trunks up to 15 metres (50 ft): the majority will branch

Location within the arboretum:

The tree is located about 15 m to the west of the deer gate which gives access to the old gate entrance area.

Furniture Makers Trees at The Arboretum - Kew at Castle Howard

short of this. The wood is white with a slight creamy tinge, there is no clear demarcation between heart and sapwood. When quarter-sawn, a beautiful curly or fiddleback figure can appear making the wood highly prized. The timber can be chemically treated to turn it a soft grey, it is then marketed as ‘Harewood’.

Uses:

Used to make many small items from violins to wooden spoons.

The figured ripple or fiddle-back sycamore is used for the backs of violins and for highly decorative veneers, panelling and marquetry.

Bark

Bud

Flower

Leaf

A single dry seed

Rippled sycamore

Grain detail

Fiddleback sycamore, stained

‘Harewood’

Fiddleback sycamore bowl