Index / Search / Platanus racemosa

§1 Plant

Platanus racemosa Nutt.

vernacular California sycamore — species · Platanaceae


USDA
PLRA
GBIF
8268789
Rank
species
California sycamore (Platanus racemosa)
Platephotograph · Chris CameronCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Platanaceae T. Lestib.
Genus
Platanus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 32 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 32 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
7 °F minimum
Frost-free days
220 min.
Precipitation
14–20 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7.3
Root depth
36 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
75 ft
Height @ 20 y
20 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Fall
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
219,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
Low
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 32 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PLRA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/8268789 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z