Tree Information

Common Name: American sycamore

Scientific Name: Platanus occidentalis

Native/Naturalized: Native to Virginia

Database ID: 3145

Status: not top 3

National Champion: no

Virginia Champion: no

Trunk Girth: 288 in.

Tree Height: 123 ft.

Crown Spread: 110 ft.

Points: 439

Date Last Measured: 2024

Last Measured by: Danny Shubert

Date First Measured: 2024

Comments:
The tree has a peculiar growth habit. The main trunk has a heavy lean, and a secondary trunk is growing from its base. It appears that the tree may have been partially uprooted early in its life, which led to the lean, but it is now restabilized itself. The tree was on the bank of the river channel prior to floods in 1963 and 1977 that reoriented the river channel further to the north. It seems that the lean predates those floods based on the tree's size. Perhaps a similar flood longer ago partially uprooted the tree. The main leaders forming the crown have reoriented more upright and the crown seems fairly well balanced. The property has been owned by the family for at least four generations. It is locally well-known as a giant tree.

Trunk was measured at a point 4.5' along its primary axis from the mid-point of the trunk where it emerges from the soil. Height and crown spread estimated from 2016 Lidar obtained from U.S. Geological Survey.