PLATANACEAE

Platanus occidentalis

Common Name: American Sycamore

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Platanus occidentalis branch.jpg (72419 bytes) Platanus occidentalis leaf2.jpg (47945 bytes)
leaves the leaves of sycamore can be quite large!  Do you see the stipules at the base of each leaf?  The two stipules are fused into a sheathing leaflike structure that surrounds the stem.

Platanus occidentalis leafunderside.jpg (35913 bytes)

Platanus occidentalis bark.jpg (99076 bytes)
leaf underside--what kind of venation and leaf margin are present in this species? bark--in a given sycamore tree you can usually two types of bark.   One looks like relatively "normal" tree bark (above).  However, younger bark is very different...

Platanus occidentalis barkpeeling.jpg (47718 bytes)

platanus.occidentalis.frt.jpg (53712 bytes)
...the younger bark is often tricolored (green, white, and brown)! fruits--this ball is made up of hundreds of individual fruits, all closely packed together (this is called an infructescence)
a globular head of fruits individual fruits

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