Estimated Height at Pickup: 4-5’, 3 gal

A.k.a. plane tree, buttonball, and buttonwood tree. A fast growing, adaptable shade tree that is a staple of lowland habitats. Larger trees show bone-white bark that is good for winter interest and, due to their fast growth and penchant for forming hollows, are make excellent habitat for cavity nesting birds! Dry areas excepted, these will grow pretty much everywhere.

Pollination: 2+ individuals needed.

Light: Full Sun, Part Sun/Shade

Soil Moisture: Wet, Wet Mesic, Mesic

Soil Type: Adaptable

Height: 60’-140’

Width: 50’-100’

Bloom Color: Insignifigant- Yellow (Male), Red (Female)

Bloom Time: Apr

Fruit: “Balls” composed of many seeds often remain on the tree into winter.

Fall Color: Yellow, Brown

Root Type: Branching

Notable Wildlife Interactions: Hosts at least two moths, two borers, and a few smaller insects. Seeds are eaten by purple finches, and other seed eating birds to a lesser extent. Occasionally browsed by deer. Prone to forming hollows, which are valuable to cavity nesting birds- particularly birds that need large cavities as they are in short supply.

Notes: …I’d only heard of them called sycamore, but my vote is now with buttonball tree. The hollow trunks of large trees once hosted chimney swift colonies, and the seeds and hollows were important rescources for the now extinct Carolina parakeet.