The Sycamore Tree

Last night I dreamt about finding a sycamore tree in the woods, so I thought today might be a good day to share one with you.

Sycamores are easy to identify by their distinctive bark and long, elegant structure. I think that my favorite feature of the sycamore trees are the dangling seed pods. They look like ornaments hanging from the branches! Sycamore trees are also referred to as plane trees, or buttonwood trees.

This sycamore grows two trees down from the beech tree we recently investigated (the tree growing between them is a mystery tree we’ll explore tomorrow). It is a favorite among squirrels, and an anchor of the northeastern corner of the farm.

Being quite tall, I imagine that this sycamore is likely the same age as the beech tree. Since these three are conveniently located in a row along what used to be the old driveway, I’m guessing they were planted by my landlady’s previous generation.

While absorbed by the awesome structure of the sycamore, I completely forgot to take a close-up of the leaves to share with you. It might have to do with the fact that even the lowest branches are quite high! Nonetheless, I will do my best to get some leaf images soon.

PS - I just discovered April the Artist's blog. Her entry for Saturday, April 29th includes a picture of shoes adorning a sycamore tree, along with other images from Philadelphia.