Sycamore leaves in Autumn gold
Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore, or more accurately Sycamore Maple to distinguish it from other plants called sycamore) is a species of maple native to central Europe and southwestern Asia, from France east to Poland, and south in mountains to northern Spain, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus. It is a large 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 5-15 cm 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. A number of species of Lepidoptera use the leaves as a food source; see Lepidoptera which feed on Maples. The name "sycamore" originally belongs to the fig species Ficus sycomorus native to southwest Asia (this is the sycamore or sycomore referred to in the Bible), and was later misapplied to this species (and others; see also Platanus) by reason of the superficial similarity in leaf shape. To avoid confusion, the name Sycamore Maple is used here. The world famous Tolpuddle sycamore tree in Dorset, site of the landmark trade union meeting in 1834 that became a historic symbol of the struggles for the emerging labour movement, has been dated for the first time by its owner the National Trust.
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: Morayshire Scotland UK
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: acer, aceraceae, botanical, botany, colourful, decidous, erable, flower, forestry, garden, gardening, green, horticulture, illustration, le, maple, park, plant, regne, reveil, seed, sycamore, tree, vegetal, woodland
