Deciduous treeNativeFast growing

California Sycamore

Platanus racemosa

A fast, long-lived California native with twisting, sculptural limbs and peeling bark that leaves the trunk mottled glowing white, beautiful in leaf or bare, and it feeds swallowtail caterpillars. It's a big streamside tree, so give it room, keep it away from patios and old sewer lines, and water deeply now and then.

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California Sycamore: whole plant — Photo: NPS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 50 × 40 ft; 15 × 12 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 7b–10b; USDA
Sun: Full sun
Water: Moist

California Sycamore at its mature size

A mature California Sycamore grows 40 to 75 feet tall and 40 to 50 feet wide, taller than most people.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: San Marcos Growers, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, USDA PLANTS.

Through the year

What California Sycamore looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

Dormant · Dec–Feb

Bare pale white limbs with hanging seed balls.

New growth · Mar–Apr

Fresh pale green leaves opening.

In leaf · May–Oct

Broad open crown of large bright green maple-like leaves.

Fall · Nov

Dull yellow-brown leaves.

Photos

California Sycamore: flowers — Flowers · Eugene Zelenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

California Sycamore: detail — Detail · Awinch1001, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing California Sycamore

Grows well in: California.
Growth rate: Fast
Good for: Fast growing
Leaves: Drops its leaves in winter
Native to: California and Baja California

Spacing

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For California Sycamore, that’s about 40 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.