Sycamore is regarded as the largest tree east of the Rocky Mountains. Tuliptrees can grow taller, but Sycamores can develop trunks of up to 10 to 12 feet in diameter in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. Although northwest Indiana is towards the northern extent of their natural range, sycamores still do quite well in our climate.
We are fortunate to have at least a handful of large, impressive sycamores scattered around the city of LaPorte. Their bark is unmistakable, and cannot be confused with any other native tree of their size. However, there are impostors. Nursery stock sold at big-box stores labeled as sycamore will often actually be a cultivar of a sycamore called London planetree, with a resistance to anthracnose disease. There is also the non-native sycamore maple, which is a naturally occurring maple tree in Western Europe with bark that closely resembles that of the sycamore family.
The seed of the sycamore tree.
Sycamores are quite susceptible to an anthracnose disease caused by a family of fungi which affects many different families of trees. Sycamore anthracnose is the most visually striking type of anthracnose due to the severity of the attack. An entire tree can be defoliated in early spring, immediately after leafout. Sycamore trees bounce back from this very quickly and regrow a full new set of leaves in late May to mid-June. This disease hits the sycamores every year, and is the reason it appears that our sycamores do not leaf out until mid-June.
Sycamore bark.
Every sycamore I saw in LaPorte this spring suffered from an anthracnose attack, and now every sycamore I’ve seen this summer is doing fine despite this annual setback. Anthracnose is not communicable between species, therefore sycamore anthracnose is not contagious to our maple trees, and is a separate species of fungi that causes anthracnose disease in maples. The fear of anthracnose disease should be no reason to avoid planting native specimens of sycamore in the City of LaPorte.
KEITH O’HERRIN is the City Forester for the City of LaPorte. He can be found at the Park and Recreation Office at 250 Pine Lake Ave. or reached at 326-9600.
Dave — September 17, 2009 @ 8:43 am
Anthracnose rot in Sycamore and Maple is why they are such excellent wildlife habitat, nesting cavities are part of nature’s diverse plan. So while this may not make a safe over the house tree, it is part of the overall ecology and trees live with that infestation a long long time with all those critter homes gaining the advantage.
No sense in fighting the natural process with chemicals, just deal with danger trees and let nature do its thing or choose another tree species that is less trouble.
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