What is "sycamore"

Plane \Plane\, n. [F., fr. L. platanus, Gr. ?, fr. ? broad; -- so called on account of its broad leaves and spreading form. See Place, and cf. Platane, Plantain the tree.] (Bot.) Any tree of the genus Platanus.

Note: The Oriental plane ( Platanus orientalis) is a native of Asia. It rises with a straight, smooth, branching stem to a great height, with palmated leaves, and long pendulous peduncles, sustaining several heads of small close-sitting flowers. The seeds are downy, and collected into round, rough, hard balls. The Occidental plane ( Platanus occidentalis), which grows to a great height, is a native of North America, where it is popularly called sycamore, buttonwood, and buttonball, names also applied to the California species ( Platanus racemosa).

Buttonwood \But"ton*wood`\, n. (Bot.) The Platanus occidentalis, or American plane tree, a large tree, producing rough balls, from which it is named; -- called also buttonball tree, and, in some parts of the United States, sycamore. The California buttonwood is Platanus racemosa.

mid-14c., sicamour "mulberry-leaved fig tree," from Old French sicamor, sagremore, from Latin sycomorus, from Greek sykomoros "African fig-tree," literally "fig-mulberry," from sykon "fig" (see fig) + moron (see mulberry). But according to many sources this is more likely a folk-etymology of Hebrew shiqmah "mulberry."\n

\nA Biblical word, originally used for a wide-spreading shade tree with fig-like fruit (Ficus sycomorus) common in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, etc., whose leaves somewhat resemble those of the mulberry; applied in English from 1580s to a large species of European maple (also plane-tree), perhaps because both it and the Biblical tree were notable for their shadiness (the Holy Family took refuge under a sycamore on the flight to Egypt), and from 1814 to the North American shade tree that also is called a buttonwood, which was introduced to Europe from Virginia 1637 by Filius Tradescant).\n

\nSpelling apparently influenced by sycamine "black mulberry tree," which is from Greek sykcaminos, which also is mentioned in the Bible (Luke xvii:6). For the sake of clarity, some writers have used the more Hellenic sycomore in reference to the Biblical tree.

n. 1 (context US English) Any of several North American plane trees, of the genus ''Platanus'', especially ''Platanus occidentalis'' (American sycamore). 2 (context British English) A large British and European species of maple, ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known in North America as the sycamore maple. 3 A large tree bearing edible fruit, ''Ficus sycomorus'', allied to the common fig and found in Egypt and Syria; also called the ''sycamore fig'' or the ''fig-mulberry''; the Biblical sycomore.

1. n. variably colored and sometimes variegated hard tough elastic wood of a sycamore tree [syn: lacewood]

2. any of several trees of the genus Platanus having thin pale bark that scales off in small plates and lobed leaves and ball-shaped heads of fruits [syn: plane tree, platan]

3. Eurasian maple tree with pale gray bark that peels in flakes like that of a sycamore tree; leaves with five ovate lobes yellow in autumn [syn: great maple, scottish maple, Acer pseudoplatanus]

4. thick-branched wide-spreading tree of Africa and adjacent southwestern Asia often buttressed with branches rising from near the ground; produces cluster of edible but inferior figs on short leafless twigs; the Biblical sycamore [syn: sycamore fig, mulberry fig, Ficus sycomorus]

Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to several different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek (sūkomoros) meaning "fig-mulberry".

Species of trees known as sycamore:

• Platanus orientalis, Chinar tree (Old World sycamore)
• Ficus sycomorus, the sycamore (or sycomore) of the Bible; a species of fig, also called the sycamore fig or fig-mulberry, native to the Middle East and eastern Africa
• Acer pseudoplatanus, a species of maple native to Central Europe and Southwestern Asia
• Some North American members of the genus Platanus, including
  • Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore
  • Platanus racemosa, the California sycamore or western sycamore
  • Platanus wrightii, the Arizona sycamore
• In Australia, there are numerous trees which have the common name "sycamore":
  • Litsea reticulata or Cryptocarya glaucescens (Silver sycamore)
  • White sycamore ( Polyscias elegans or Cryptocarya obovata)
  • Ceratopetalum succirubrum (Satin sycamore)
  • Cardwellia sublimia
  • Cryptocarya hypospodia (Bastard sycamore)
  • Ceratopetalum virchowii (Pink sycamore)
  • Ceratopetalum corymbosum (Mountain sycamore)

The sycamore (Acronicta aceris) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed through most of Europe, from central England south to Morocco. To the east it is found from the Near East and Middle East to West Asia.

The forewings of this species are pale to dark grey with rather indistinct markings apart from a thin black basal streak. The hindwings are white, sometimes with dark streaks at the margin. The wingspan is 40–45 mm. The adults fly at night from June to August and are attracted to light and sugar.

The extraordinary larva is very distinctive, thickly covered with very long yellow and orange hairs with white spots outlined in black along the back. It feeds on various maples and also on Common Horse-chestnut, Large-leaved Lime, Mulberry and Pedunculate Oak. The species overwinters as a pupa. Contrary to its bright colours, it is not poisonous, but may cause skin irritation if handled excessively.

1. The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

Sycamore is the common name for several different species of trees:

• '' Ficus sycomorus, the sycamore fig or fig-mulberry, a fig species cultivated since ancient times
• '' Acer pseudoplatanus, the sycamore maple, a species of maple native to Central Europe and Southwestern Asia
• The sycamores of North America in the genus Platanus:
  • Platanus occidentalis, the American Sycamore
  • Platanus racemosa, the California Sycamore or Western Sycamore
  • Platanus wrightii, the Arizona Sycamore

Sycamore may also refer to: