Sycamore: An under appreciated workhorse of the forest
Trees are one of the most valuable natural resources found on this planet, and a key component in the day-to-day activities of nearly every person not living in a desert or the frozen tundra. Trees and forests have a storied history in Ohio, as European settlers entered an Ohio Territory in the 1700s that had over 90 percent of its land covered by woody vegetation. In the centuries that followed, all but about 10 percent of that region was denuded of trees to make way for homesteads, agriculture or through unmanaged timber harvest.
Thankfully the importance of proper forest management and natural succession in abandoned lands has led to a rebound of tree growth in Ohio and we now have approximately 31 percent of the state’s area, about 8.1 million acres, under a canopy of tree cover.
If you ask anyone on the street to name the benefits of trees, you might get responses pointing toward the ability of trees to produce oxygen, create shade or the importance of tree-related products such as lumber or food. When asked to think of an important or valuable species of tree, the responses can usually be counted on one hand. Oak and maple typically lead the pack because of their popularity in the landscape and lumber industry. Walnut and cherry are other frequent vote getters also for their importance in the lumber and furniture industry. The final common response, at least in central Ohio, is the buckeye tree, mainly because of its symbolism for a “mildly” popular university.
While I have never officially conducted a poll on the popularity of tree species, one that would most likely, and unjustly, be toward the bottom of the list would be the much maligned sycamore tree. To be fair, sycamores have more than a few traits that don’t do them any favors in the eyes of the general public such as their seeming inability to grow in anything resembling a symmetrical shape. If Charlie Brown could leap from the Sunday comics, he would undoubtedly find sycamores up to his tree selection standards.
As for a timber tree, sycamores commonly suffer from heart rot in which the wood in the center, or core, of the tree rots away, leaving only the outer ring of recent-growth wood remaining. This effectively eliminates any interest from loggers as a tree with no lumber doesn’t have much value to a lumber mill. And finally, sycamore trees are dirty. No, that doesn’t mean your hand will turn black if you lean up against it. Dirty trees are ones with a predilection for making messes through the shedding of limbs, leaves and bark; and shedding is one thing sycamores do well – not a good trait if you are attempting to keep the grass mowed underneath one.
Wow, if you’ve made it this far you might be thinking it’s no wonder nobody likes this tree. After all, I’ve only pointed out the negatives, but sometimes, what is an undesirable trait to human eyes can be an incredible boon to the environment it’s found in. Looking first at the growth characteristics, sycamores grow big. Based on the National Big Tree program, only a mammoth cottonwood tree boasts a larger size than the record sycamore. Worth noting, the current record holding Ohio sycamore also is the largest example found anywhere in the U.S.
Remember that heart rot I mentioned? When you have trees that grow big and are hollow inside, it creates ideal opportunities for many cavity nesting animals to take advantage of. Bluebirds, wood ducks, owls and raccoons are frequent denizens of cored-out sycamores, and on more than one occasion, I found myself as a youth enjoying the wonder of climbing inside a massive sycamore on the banks of a nearby stream.
That forking, asymmetrical branching pattern I mentioned earlier may not be appealing for residential yard aesthetics, but when a towering sycamore grows along a river or stream, those large jutting branches create the perfect platform for bald eagles to build their nests.
Sycamores can also provide a food source for many types of wildlife. While not a fruiting tree by commercial standards, sycamores do produce a spherical fruit called an “achene” packed full of seeds that are readily eaten by many birds, squirrels and other mammals. And, because the trees are commonly found near water, sycamore leaves provide vital organic matter and habitat for many aquatic macroinvertebrates when they drop each fall into streams and rivers.
So next time you’re out walking a river bank or kayaking lazily down a stream, take a moment to appreciate the ecological importance of these gangly giants, and maybe the oft-neglected sycamore will become your new favorite tree.
Tommy Springer is the wildlife and education specialist for the Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District. He can be reached at 740-653-8154.