Trees and leaves · Sycamore Maple
Recognising a Sycamore Maple
Two wings on one fruit? The sycamore catches Puschel’s attention. Look with the Wusels for its large, lobed leaves.
The short answer
Sycamore leaves usually have five broad pointed parts spreading like fingers from one surface. These parts are lobes. Older bark flakes in plates; paired fruits have two wings.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Puschel counts five leaf tips and thinks of a hand. Flauschi shows it is still one leaf. They compare the winged fruits in the picture and the flaky bark. His sketch gets more than five fingers.
The leaf
A sycamore maple leaf usually has five broad pointed lobes. Its edges are irregularly toothed.
The bark
On older sycamore maples, the grey-brown bark comes away in small scales or plates.
The fruit
The fruit consists of two winged sections, each containing one seed. As they fall, these sections can spin like little propellers.
Mini quiz
What do you remember?
1. How many large lobes does a typical sycamore maple leaf usually have?
Choose one answer: a), b) or c).
- a)Five
- b)Three
- c)Seven
Show answer
Correct answer: a): Five Five
2. What happens to older sycamore maple bark?
Choose one answer: a), b) or c).
- a)It stays smooth and grey
- b)It peels in white papery strips
- c)It peels in scales
Show answer
Correct answer: c): It peels in scales It peels in scales
3. What do the fruits look like?
Choose one answer: a), b) or c).
- a)Two joined wings
- b)Acorns in little cups
- c)Large cones
Show answer
Correct answer: a): Two joined wings Two joined wings
Word help
- rotor
- A part of a machine that rotates.
- lobe
- A projecting part of a leaf’s surface.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Three tree clues
Why does the fruit have a wing?
The wing is a thin part of the fruit. A falling sycamore fruit often spins around. Its wing slows the fall, giving wind more time to carry it sideways. The seed inside may land farther from its parent tree. The distance also depends on the wind.
Compare and understand
Watch a fruit falling naturally, or inspect one already on the ground. It has no helicopter motor. Falling and the air flowing past produce the movement. Calling it a rotor is a comparison, not saying that it is a real aircraft.