Originally posted by Icabod...
The sycamore powder is nasty too. I climbed a HUGE sycamore while tresspassing about two years ago. I got up about 40' and everything on me itched, and all my clothes had turned yellow. I avoid sycamores.

Just thought I'd take this moment to share some goofy pictures. I had the opportunity to climb some BEAUTIFUL Sycamores this past weekend at....

N 34* 2.686'
W 118* 56.402 (actually, we were about 2 miles north of there)

Anyway, the trees are in the canyon. It's a state park that Karina and I camped at a month ago. The trees have marvelous branch structure, but they were all infested with string and rope left from previous campers who felt the need to dangle whatever things from the trees.

As you may note from the picnic table, and the lady walking by, this is by no means a "wilderness area." There is a well developed system of biking and hiking trails throughout the canyon. There are lots of people (even the badge-wearing ranger type) pass by often. Still, my climbing was done without tragedy.

Special thanks to karina for taking pictures for me (she hates doing it).

love
nick

Regarding that nasty sycamore dust...

With the proper PPE, you can enjoy just about any tree!!!

love
nick

With my new PPE, it's no problem to "stop and smell the roses!"

Look at those cute new leaves opening up! A month ago the buds were still very, very sleepy.

love
nick

Oh, and a special thank to the head park ranger who in an email sorta gave me permission to climb the trees when he wrote....

You are welcome to camp and you may, if you choose to, pick up litter or
remove old ropes from trees as any other visitor might choose to do
while they are camping. I would gladly accept the campsite numbers of
suspected problem ropes in trees and have our staff do the work as well.
Do not use machinery without a permit to do so.

Tony *******
Supervising Ranger


Any other visitor might choose to climb those trees, right?

love
nick

Hmm... Thorazine wore off, eh?

Resting quietly at Belleview,
Electrojake

(or perhaps the caption should read: “Rare Ninja sighting at local park”)

Not only is it “Rare Ninja sighting at local park,” it also appears to be a Rare Ninja in sandals!

Isn't that a bit hard on the tootsies when you're footlocking? Particularly the single footlock!!

looking at this delightful tree you're swinging in i couldn't help think it looks like a plane tree? is this a trans atlantic lingo problem or are they different species?

Originally posted by bareroots
looking at this delightful tree you're swinging in i couldn't help think it looks like a plane tree? is this a trans atlantic lingo problem or are they different species?

I missed this great thread. Flip flops as climbing gear, awesome!

American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and London Plane (Platanus x acerfolia) are closely related. The American Sycamore is native to North America. The London Plane is a created hybrid between the American Sycamore and Oriental Plane. One obvious difference is that on A. Sycamore the fruit/seed cluster hangs as a single round shape on a stem. On a L. Pane there are multiple round seed clusters per stem.

The sycamores in my area (eastern Mass.) have been getting beat up real bad by some disease the last few years. We're starting to run out of trees that aren't under attack by non-native insects or fungus, global warming or something else.
-moss

Moss,

The disease that you are referring to may be Anthracnose. We had a bout of that here in Pennsy and NJ last year, but this year they seem to be ok. As far as I can recall it is caused by a fungus that is nearly always present on the trees but it takes the right weather conditions (cool and damp?) to bring it out in a fury.

After the trees leaf-out they will prematurely drop their leaves and will need to leaf-out a second time. It was sad to see it happening but once they leafed-out the second time last year they seemed fine. I think that real concern with this is if it happens for a few consecutive years and how much extra energy the trees must use to put out a whole new set of leaves.

Have a great day!!!!

I've got a London Plane tree in my front. I've been climbing it frequently this year. I'm waiting to see when I gag too much to climb it. So far I've pushed through the irritation in the throat.

An arborist gave me a nice way to recall it. Sycamore is one word, one fruit. London Plane is many words many fruits.

Who came up with the concept to plant these trees in residential areas?

Anyone know if the gardens of Versaille France are lined with Sycamores or London Planes? I couldn't tell.

Regards,
JimK

many thanks Moss for the learned response and to Jim for the memory prompt.

i don't understand what the fuss with white dust is all about. The planes that i'm familiar are dust free. They're actually some of the nicest trees around to climb. The limbs being smooth (apart for a few flakes), incredible strong and flexible. I've known them as the bungee tree. Briachiating from one branch to the next, shock loading it with my weight and being back up into the air. (don't worry, no breakages).

is the white dust a new world fungal infection?

Originally posted by bareroots
is the white dust a new world fungal infection?

Interesting that your Plane trees don't seem to have the "white dust". I wonder if it has to do with the generally wetter climate you have, it might be that the trees get rinsed by rain more often. Just a guess. I haven't climbed any syscamore in my area so I can't say whether or not they're covered with the nasty dust or not.
-moss

I'll admit, footlocking in flip-flops is by no means comfortable, but it IS possible! That's how I got into the tree pictured, actually.

I've never actually SEEN any dust on any of the sycamore/plane trees I've climbed. Nor have I looked for it. However, I HAVE suffered from it's effects. Lesson learned. Hence, the mask.

love
nick