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The Sycamore or Sycamore Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is one of the commonest maples in Europe, native to central Europe from France east to Poland, and south (in mountains) to northernmost Spain and Turkey. It is also cultivated and widely naturalised further north in northern Europe, notably in the British Isles and southern Scandinavia, and in New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land and the Pacific NorthwestThe northwestern part of the United States is known as the Pacific Northwest . Its boundaries are imprecise: the Pacific coast states of Washington and Oregon are always included, with Idaho a common addition. Extreme western Montana, near Missoula, is al of North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea.

It is a deciduousDeciduous means "temporary" or "tending to fall off". Deciduous plants are those that lose their foliage for part of the year. In most cases, the foliage loss coincides with the incidence of winter in temperate or polar climates, but some plants lose thei treeThis article is about the biological organisms known as trees. For other meanings of the word see tree (disambiguation). oak tree in Denmark A tree can be defined as a large perennial woody plant. Though there is no set definition of size, it is generally that reaches 20-35 m tall at maturity, with a broad, domed crown. On young trees, the barkFor other meanings of bark see Bark (disambiguation). Bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots of woody plants such as trees. It overlays the wood and consists of three layers: the cork, the phloem, and the vascular cambium in other words, most of t is smooth and grey but becomes rougher with age and breaks up in scales, exposing the pale brown to pinkish inner bark. The leavesThis article is about the leaf a plant organ. See Leaf (disambiguation) for other meanings. In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the chloroplast con are opposite, 10-25 cm long and broad with a 5-15 cm petiole, palmately-veined with five lobes with toothed edges, and dark green in colour; some cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated variety of a plant species. Modern cultivars are often, but not necessarily, hybrids between species; they may equally well represent particularly desirable selections from populations of a single species. Cultivars generally ars have purple-tinged or yellowish leaves.

The monoecious yellow-green flowers are produced in spring on 10-20 cm pendulous racemes, with 20-50 flowers on each stalk. The 5-10 mm diameter seeds are paired in samaras, each seed with a 20-40 mm long wing to catch the wind and rotate when they fall; this helps them to spread further from the parent tree. The seeds are mature in autumn about 6 months after pollination.

The Sycamore Maple is noted for its tolerance of urban pollution and salt spray, which makes it a popular tree for planting in cities, along roads treated with salt in winter, and in coastal localities. It is also sometimes planted for timber production; the wood is white with a silky lustre, and hard-wearing, used for furniture and flooring. Occasional trees produce wood with a wavy grain, greatly increasing the value for decorative veneers.

The name "sycamore" originally belongs to the fig species Ficus sycomorus native to southwest Asia (this is the sycamore or sycomore referred to in the Bible), and was later mis-applied to this species (and others; see also Platanus) by reason of the superficial similarity in leaf shape. To avoid confusion, the full name Sycamore Maple is preferable.