Platanus racemosa

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Platanus racemosa
California Sycamore by Mathias Joseph Alten, c. 1929.jpg
California Sycamore by Mathias Joseph Alten c.1929 (Grand Rapids Art Museum)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Platanaceae
Genus: Platanus
Species:
P. racemosa
Binomial name
Platanus racemosa
Platanus racemosa range map.jpg
Natural range

Platanus racemosa is a species of plane tree known by several common names, including California sycamore, western sycamore, California plane tree, and in North American Spanish aliso. [1] Platanus racemosa is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in riparian areas, canyons, floodplains, at springs and seeps, and along streams and rivers in several types of habitats. [1] [2] [3] It can be found as far north as Tehama and Humboldt counties.

Contents

Description

Three-trunked specimen J20160926-0053--Platanus racemosa--RPBG (29346126813).jpg
Three-trunked specimen

This large tree grows to 35 metres (110 ft) in height with a trunk diameter of up to one meter (three feet). The height of these trees ranges from 10 to 35 meters. [4] A specimen on the campus of Stanford University has a trunk girth (circumference) of 10.5 feet (3.20 m). [5] The trunk generally divides into two or more large trunks splitting into many branches. The bark is an attractive patchwork of white, tawny beige, pinkish gray, and pale brown. [6] Both older bark and twigs on this plane sycamore become darker with time. The twigs and bark range from a light brownish gray to a shade resembling the color sepia.

Platanus racemosa is the dominant species in the globally and state endangered sycamore-alluvial woodland habitat.

Examples of the reddish and yellowish green achenes on the Platanus racemosa Platanus racemosa-3.jpg
Examples of the reddish and yellowish green achenes on the Platanus racemosa

The large palmately lobed leaves may be up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) centimeters wide and have three or five pointed lobes. [4] New leaves are a bright translucent green and somewhat woolly. [5] The deciduous tree drops copious amounts of dry golden to orangish red leaves in the fall. The inflorescence is made up of a few spherical flower heads each around a centimeter wide. The female flower heads develop into spherical fruit clusters each made up of many hairy, maroon-red-woolly achenes. [1] Depending on the sex, the inflorescence can either be red, if female, or chartreuse, if male. After the female clusters fertilize, the achenes bear a fruit that breaks apart and scatters just as the tree's pollen does. [1] [6]

The tough and coarse-grained wood is difficult to split and work. It has various uses, including acting as a meat preparation block for butchers. Many small birds feed on its fruit, and several mammals eat its twigs and bark. The pollen resulting from the hairs on the leaves and flowers of Western sycamores can be allergens for some people. [7] New leaves are susceptible to anthracnose canker, which, when it causes a side bud to become the new leader, can create picturesque angling trunks and branches on older specimens. [7]

Cultivation

It is also widely planted horticulturally as a landscape tree in public landscapes and private gardens. While it requires some water, and can be grown in lawns, once established it is drought tolerant. New appreciation for how it shades sun in summer and lets sun through in winter has led to its use in green architecture and sustainable design.

Uses

California sycamore wood is extremely hard and difficult to work, but can still be employed to create a variety of items such as buttons, tobacco boxes, furniture, wooden utensils, and barrels. [1] [8] The form and wide canopy of the species make it an effective shade tree. [6] This western sycamore's shade cools the surrounding bodies of water while simultaneously offering a home for some animals in the humid environment in which it flourishes. [9]

Ecology

Increased human interference has made the P. racemosa more susceptible to cross-breeding with other Platanus trees. This hybridization with other species like the P. x acerifolia offers the P. racemosa the advantage of resisting fungal diseases, namely the sycamore anthracnose. Interbred California sycamores are less vulnerable to this disease than the original P. racemosa as it harms their wood. However, sycamore anthracnose produces deadwood which creates a habitat for animals like wood ducks. The lack of non-hybridized P. racemosa thus harms the riparian woodlands in which they thrive. [9]

Another disease that that the P. racemoa is particularly receptive to is the Fusarium dieback which is carried and passed on through two kinds of invasive ambrosia beetles. Removing the tree itself is one way to prevent the significant harms of Fusarium dieback from spreading but a mixture of fungicides such as metconazole combined with an insecticide can additionally reduce the number of ambrosia beetles that transmit this disease. Close monitoring is required in order to prevent a substantial beetle infestation from occurring as that would damage the tree to the point of needing removal. [10] [4]

Further hybridization between the P. racemosa and P. x hispanica are a threat to the genetic diversity and identity of the former. The disease combatant advantage that the hybrid provides can bring about a decline in the native tree. The ensuing decline and genetic disintegration could not only harm the tree itself, but nesting birds, monarch butterflies, and numerous other small animals that reside or find shelter within the California sycamore's shade. D. Whitlock's study on the RNA of the Platanus trees near the Sacramento River reveals that P. racemosa contains genes from P. x hispanica, which consequently demonstrates the increased erasure of the former. [4]

Platanus racemosa leaves and achenes Platanus racemosa-6.jpg
Platanus racemosa leaves and achenes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platanaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Platanaceae, the "plane-tree family", is a family of flowering plants in the order Proteales. The family consists of only a single extant genus Platanus, with twelve known species. The plants are tall trees, native to temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The hybrid London plane is widely planted in cities worldwide.

<i>Quercus palustris</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus palustris, also called pin oak, swamp oak, or Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section of the genus Quercus. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native range due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance.

<i>Platanus</i> Genus of flowering plants constituting the family Platanaceae

Platanus is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae.

<i>Platanus <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> acerifolia</i> Species of tree (London plane)

Platanus × acerifolia, Platanus × hispanica, or hybrid plane, is a tree in the genus Platanus. It is often known by the synonym London plane or London planetree. It is a hybrid of Platanus orientalis and Platanus occidentalis.

<i>Platanus occidentalis</i> Species of plant

Platanus occidentalis, also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of Platanus native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeastern Mexico, extreme southern Ontario, and extreme southern Quebec. It is usually called sycamore in North America, a name which can refer to other types of trees in other parts of the world. The American sycamore is a long-lived species, typically surviving at least 200 years and likely as long as 500–600 years.

<i>Acer pseudoplatanus</i> Species of flowering plant in the lychee family Sapindaceae

Acer pseudoplatanus, known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of maple native to Central Europe and Western Asia. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, tolerant of wind and coastal exposure.

<i>Alnus glutinosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae

Alnus glutinosa, the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations where its association with the bacterium Frankia alni enables it to grow in poor quality soils. It is a medium-sized, short-lived tree growing to a height of up to 30 metres (98 feet). It has short-stalked rounded leaves and separate male and female flowers in the form of catkins. The small, rounded fruits are cone-like and the seeds are dispersed by wind and water.

<i>Betula pendula</i> Species of birch

Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia.

<i>Betula pubescens</i> Species of birch

Betula pubescens, commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia, growing farther north than any other broadleaf tree. It is closely related to, and often confused with, the silver birch, but grows in wetter places with heavier soils and poorer drainage; smaller trees can also be confused with the dwarf birch.

<i>Cornus nuttallii</i> Species of plant

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<i>Fraxinus latifolia</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus latifolia, the Oregon ash, is a member of the ash genus Fraxinus, native to western North America.

<i>Quercus lobata</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus lobata, commonly called the valley oak or roble, is the largest of the California oaks. It is endemic to the state, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou to San Diego counties. Deciduous, it requires year-round groundwater, and may live up to 600 years. Its thick, ridged bark and deeply lobed leaves are characteristic, and assist in identification.

<i>Inonotus arizonicus</i> Species of fungus

Inonotus arizonicus is a plant pathogen. I. arizonicus is a locally common saprotrophic polypore that induces white rot in sycamore trees in southwestern North America. Host species include Platanus wrightii and Platanus racemosa. The fruiting bodies, shaped like hooves or a plate or a stack of plates, can appear on trunks, at the base of living trees, or on stumps or snags. In California this species is generally found south of the San Francisco Bay Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thousand cankers disease</span> Disease of walnut trees

Thousand cankers disease (TCD) is a recently recognized disease of certain walnuts. The disease results from the combined activity of the walnut twig beetle and a canker producing fungus, Geosmithia morbida. Until July 2010 the disease was only known to the western United States where over the past decade it has been involved in several large scale die-offs of walnut, particularly black walnut, Juglans nigra. However, in late July 2010 a well-established outbreak of the disease was found in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area. This new finding is the first locating it within the native range of its susceptible host, black walnut. In 2013, an outbreak was found in the Veneto region of Italy, where the disease has been found on both black walnut and English walnut.

<i>Populus fremontii</i> Species of tree

Populus fremontii, commonly known as Frémont's cottonwood, is a cottonwood native to riparian zones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico. It is one of three species in Populus sect. Aigeiros. The tree was named after 19th-century American explorer and pathfinder John C. Frémont.

<i>Euwallacea fornicatus</i> Species of beetle

Euwallacea fornicatus, also known as tea shot-hole borer, or polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB) is a species complex consisting of multiple cryptic species of ambrosia beetles known as an invasive species in California, Israel, South Africa, and Australia. The species has also been unintentionally introduced into exotic greenhouses in several European countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Canyon Nature Center</span> Nature preserve in California, United States

Oak Canyon Nature Center is a nature preserve located in Anaheim, Southern California. Owned by the city, the park spans an area of 58-acres, comprising three adjoining canyons of the Santa Ana foothills. It has an elevation range from 525 to 825 feet ., and contains three major vegetation zones: coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and riparian. Open on weekends, the John J. Collier Interpretive Center features a museum with live animal and regional natural history exhibits.

<i>Euwallacea interjectus</i> Species of beetle

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Lejeunea mandonii, also known as Atlantic lejeunea is a species of liverwort from the Lejeuneaceae family.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Deardorff, David (1977). "Plant Portraits: California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa)". Garden. 1: 5–7 via Archive.org.
  2. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (N.R.A.), General Management Plan (GMP): Environmental Impact Statement. United States: n.p., 1982.
  3. National Park Service Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area - Riparian Woodlands Archived 2021-05-18 at the Wayback Machine . U.S. National Park Service
  4. 1 2 3 4 Johnson, Matthew G.; Lang, Kylene; Manos, Paul; Golet, Greg H.; Schierenbeck, Kristina A. (2016-06-01). "Evidence for genetic erosion of a California native tree, Platanus racemosa, via recent, ongoing introgressive hybridization with an introduced ornamental species". Conservation Genetics. 17 (3): 593–602. doi:10.1007/s10592-015-0808-z. ISSN   1572-9737. S2CID   254422699.
  5. 1 2 "Stanford Trees, Shrubs, and Vines". Archived from the original on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  6. 1 2 3 Peattie, Donald Culross (1991). A Natural History of Western Trees. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-395-58175-9.
  7. 1 2 "Californiagardens.com". Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  8. Brush, Warren D. (December 1917). "Distinguishing Characters of North American Sycamore Woods". Botanical Gazette. 64 (6): 480–496. doi:10.1086/332176. ISSN   0006-8071. S2CID   84936560.
  9. 1 2 Lang, Kylene R. "Microsatellite Development in "Plantanus" for Documenting Gene Flow Among Species". scholarworks.calstate.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  10. Mayorquin, Joey S.; Carrillo, Joseph D.; Twizeyimana, Mathias; Peacock, Beth B.; Sugino, Kameron Y.; Na, Francis; Wang, Danny H.; Kabashima, John N.; Eskalen, Akif (July 2018). "Chemical Management of Invasive Shot Hole Borer and Fusarium Dieback in California Sycamore ( Platanus racemosa ) in Southern California". Plant Disease. 102 (7): 1307–1315. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-10-17-1569-RE . ISSN   0191-2917. PMID   30673581.