sycamore maple

Photo: Willow — CC BY 2.5 · source

Survives zone 4 through 7

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Spring sap tapped for syrup — around 3.2% sugar, comparable to Norway maple.

Hardiness

Zone 4–7

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Sap

Ripens

Late winter (sap run)

Mature size

Large tree 20–35 m — not containerable

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

6.0–7.0

Environment

Montane

Native range

Central and southern Europe and western Asia — the mountains of central Europe east to the Caucasus. ⚠ Widely naturalised and invasive in Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

10+ yrs (sap)

Growth speed

45–75 cm/year — fast, and notably tolerant of wind, salt and exposure, which is why it is planted for coastal shelter.

Spacing

1200 cm (472 in) apart — about 144 m² (1550 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Opposite, leathery, 10–18 cm across with five lobes, coarsely and bluntly serrate with prominent veins, dark dull green above and paler beneath — heavier and duller in texture than Norway maple, and with clear, not milky, sap.

Root system

Deep and widely spreading, better anchored than Norway maple and part of why it stands up to exposed coastal sites.

Fruit description

Paired samaras 3–6 cm long with the wings held at a narrow angle of roughly 60°, ripening in autumn and produced in enormous quantity — the seedlings are exactly why it naturalises so aggressively. Sap can be tapped for syrup, though at lower sugar than sugar maple.

Propagation

Seed (the winged samara) needs 40–120 days moist cold stratification at 1–5°C; autumn sowing outdoors achieves this naturally. Named forms are grafted, since seedlings vary.

Pollination

Heterodichogamous, and pollinated by both wind and insects — thrips and bees both work the hanging racemes, an unusual mixed strategy. Cross-pollination between male-first and female-first trees is the norm. Irrelevant to a sap crop.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.