California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa)
Description
This large tree grows to 35 metres (110 ft) in height with a trunk diameter of up to one meter (three feet). A specimen on the campus of Stanford University has a trunk girth (circumference) of 10.5 metres (34.4 ft). The trunk generally divides into two or more large trunks splitting into many branches. The bark is an attractive patchwork of white, tawny beige, pinkish gray, and pale brown, with older bark becoming darker and peeling away. Platanus racemosa is the dominant species in the globally and state endangered sycamore-alluvial woodland habitat. The large palmately lobed leaves may be up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) centimeters wide and have three or five pointed lobes. New leaves are a bright translucent green and somewhat woolly. The deciduous tree drops copious amounts of dry golden to orangish red leaves in the fall. The inflorescence is made up of a few spherical flower heads each around a centimeter wide. The female flower heads develop into spherical fruit clusters each made up of many hairy, maroon-red-woolly achenes.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Proteales
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Family: Platanaceae
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Genus: Platanus
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