Acer pseudoplatanus
L. Sycamore MapleWide-crowned, deciduous tree to c. 25 m high; andromonoecious. Leaves palmately 3–5-lobed, 8–15 cm long and wide, cordate at base, often glaucous and/or reddish beneath, with scattered short hairs beneath, particularly near the veins; lobes usually divided c. midway to petiole; margins irregulary toothed; petioles 4–15 cm long. Flowers in pendent terminal racemes or racemose panicles to c. 10–15 cm long, appearing after leaves; pedicels slender, 3–8 mm long; sepals and petals similar, greenish, oblong, 2–3 mm long; nectary disc annular, corrugated; stamens 8–10, arising within nectary; ovary woolly. Samaras c. 5 cm long, the seed compartment nearly spherical, under 1 cm long, wings nearly parallel, prominently veined. Flowers Sep.–Nov.
VVP, VRiv, GipP, Gold, CVU, GGr, HSF, HNF, OtR. Also naturalised SA, NSW, Tas. Native to mountainous parts of Europe, widely naturalized. Recorded from Zumsteins in the Grampians, Mt Macedon, Dandenong Ranges, Jamieson areas, but likely to become naturalised from windblown seed wherever cultivated near tall wet forests.
Walsh, N.G. (1999). Aceraceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 149–150. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
