Sycamore Tree and Seeds

The American Sycamore has the nickname "buttonball tree," garnered from the fruit that contains its seeds. One of the most massive of all the eastern hardwood species, the American Sycamore is easy to recognize with or without its leaves because of these buttonballs.

Female Flowers

The sycamore has both male and female flowers on it, with the female flowers eventually developing into the buttonball that contains and protects the seeds of the plant.

Identification

Once the female flower turns into the fruit, it hangs like a Christmas ornament from the twig. It is brownish, round, about an inch in diameter and has a fuzzy appearance to it.

Achenes

The "buttonball" has several hundred small "nutlets" within it that pack firmly together to form the rounded fruit. These are the seeds of the sycamore, known as "achenes," which have stiff fibers attached to them.

Time Frame

The buttonballs remain on a sycamore through the winter and they will not begin to disintegrate until February through May. Once the buttonball starts to break apart, the seeds fly away with the help of the wind, which grabs hold of the fibers attached and propels the seed along.

Fun Fact

Many sycamore seeds land in rivers and streams, but the water does not destroy them. Eventually they make landfall and some will germinate, which is why there are so many sycamores along waterways in the eastern U.S., according to the Hikers Notebook website.

References

• Hiker's Notebook: Sycamore
• Uconn Plant Database:Sycamore
• "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees; Elbert Little; 2008