The American sycamore is a fast-growing deciduous tree with a massive trunk and an open crown of huge, often crooked branches. The Sycamore produces spikey seed balls each year, which appear in the winter and fall to the ground each spring. The bark of large, old trunks is also distinct, sloughing off in scales or sheets, to leave a smooth, whitish inner bark.

A shade tree, the Sycamore grows to a larger trunk diameter than any other native hardwood. The present champion’s trunk is about 11 feet in diameter, while an earlier giant was nearly 15 feet around.