Platanus racemosa

Western sycamore, Western Sycamore

Family: Platanaceae · Type: tree · Native

Western sycamore is a native tree found in California regions including the Central Valley, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, southwestern California, and Mojave Desert, particularly along streamsides, canyons, and arroyos at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from February to April, this tree produces small greenish-white flowers in distinctive spherical clusters. Growing to an impressive 10 to 35 meters tall with often leaning trunks and bases up to one meter wide, it features light gray to tan bark that peels away in distinctive patches. Its large leaves are approximately 10 to 25 centimeters wide, nearly round with surfaces that range from glabrous to slightly hairy, and have prominent stipules that persist even after maturity. The tree produces round fruit heads two to three centimeters wide, with individual achenes bearing persistent hairy bases that give the fruit clusters a distinctive, textured appearance.

Habitat: Common. Streamsides, canyons, arroyos

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: CaRF, c&amps SNF, Teh, GV, CW, SW, DMoj (Mojave River, n of Victorville), nw DSon

California counties: Los Angeles, Kern, San Diego, Orange, Tulare, Riverside, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Butte, San Benito, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Colusa, Fresno, Alameda, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Mendocino, Sutter, Merced, Sacramento, Tehama, Contra Costa, Madera, Yuba, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.