American Sycamore

Platanus occidentalis I,. Sp. PL 999. 1753
Platanus lohata Moench, Meth. 358. 1794,
Platanus hybridus Brot. Fl. I^usit. 2 : 487. 1804.
Platanus vulgaris angulosa Spach, Ann. Sci. Nat. II. 15 : 293. 1841.
Platanus occidentalis hispanica Wesmael, M€m. Soc. Sci. Hainaut III. 1 : 12. f. 5, 1867.
Platanus occidentalis lobata Bommer, Les Platanes 17./. 5, 6, 1869.
A tall tree, reaching 50 m. in height; bark thin, smooth, exfoliating in thin plates, or rough on the old trunks ; twigs glabrous ; young foliage covered with a white deciduous tomentum, becoming glabrous or nearly so at maturity ; leaves 15-25 cm. long and wide, broadly deltoid, truncate at the base, 3-5-nerved, 3-lobed or with faint additional lateral lobes, with broad or obscure sinuses, sharply serrate with coarse acuminate teeth ; lobes
shallow, abruptly acuminate, the middle one much broader than long ; petioles pubescent ; stipules foliaceous, sharply serrate or lobed; fruiting peduncles 8-15 cm. long; mature heads 2.5-3 cm. in diameter ; achene 7-8 mm. long, about equaled by the subtending hairs, glabrous or nearly so at the tip, truncate and tipped with a persistent style, about 1 mm. long.
Type locality : North America.
Distribution : New Hampshire to Ontario and Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas.