The Sycamore Tree

       On November 4th while observing my apartment complex I noticed most of the trees had completely lost their leaves, except for one tall tree located towards the front of the apartments. This tree has a huge whitish trunk that is surrounded by large golden yellowish- green leaves. Although there are a lot of leaves surrounding the tree, this tree manages to still have a good amount of it's leaves on it. The leaves looked beautiful and big laying on the ground that I decided to pick a few up and take them home with me. On my way home I came across the question, "what type of tree was that?" so I decided to do some research.

Here's a picture of how the tree trunk looks
(pictures are not taken by me)

      On November 6th I discovered that the tree turns out to be a North American Sycamore tree. These type of trees are one of the oldest species of trees on earth, and are known for their longevity and hardiness. Sycamore trees produce large leaves that can grow up to 6 inches long. They can also grow branches that can reach up to 175 feet tall (Roberts).

North American Sycamore Tree

     Sycamores are highly resistant to pollution and salty soils. There are three types of sycamore trees. The Northern American sycamore which is most common in the United States and parts of Canada. This type is known as the largest species and for its range of bark color (gray-green to whitewashed). The Middle Eastern Sycamore is found mostly in Eastern Africa and is smaller. Last but not least the British Sycamore is native to Europe and thrives in moist conditions. This variety's young leaves have a pink tint (Roberts).

Middle Eastern Sycamore Tree

British Sycamore Tree

       I hope you found this information about Sycamore trees as interesting as I did. I never thought that by doing some research on a very large and beautiful tree that I would find out that there are others of its kind. It's interesting to see what you can find out about something with just some simple research and now I have learned that.
   


Works cited: 
Roberts, Heath. "Facts About Sycamore Trees." SF Gate. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.