Common Names

Sycamore
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Parts Usually Used

Bark
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Sycamore maple is a large deciduous tree; it grows as high as 100 feet, and its spreading branches bear opposite, 5 lobed, coarsely crenate-serrate leaves which resemble those of the sycamore tree. The leaves are dark green on top, pale and whitish beneath. The yellowish-green flowers grow in hanging racemes, producing eventually the winged fruit characteristic of the maples.
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Where Found

Found in mountainous and upland areas of Europe and western Asia and cultivated to some extent in the United States.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, vulnerary
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Legends, Myths and Stories

This tree has characteristics of the sycamore but it is a maple tree. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) grows to 150 feet with bark that is mottled, multi-colored, and peeling. Fruits are globular.
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Uses

The bark has mild astringent properties and has been used to make a wash for skin problems and an eyewash for sore eyes. The inner bark of the tree, containing the sweet sap, can be used as dressing for wounds.
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Bibliography

• American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, pg., 290, 294.
• Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, by Nicholas Culpeper, pgs., 112
• Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Plate 46, pg., 280.
• The Herb Book, by John Lust, pgs., 375, 570.
• Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, pg., 194.
• Indian Uses of Native Plants, by Edith Van Allen Murphey, pg., 5.
• Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, pg., 1355.
• The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, pg., 62.

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