![]() These older trees are often hollow and the peeling bark may make them appear sick (this is possibly how the tree got its name), but these trees have been known to live over 300 years. This exposure is most noticeable on upper trunks and limbs of older trees. The trunk can reach 10 feet in diameter, and can grow to 130 feet in height. The gray-brown bark is not elastic enough to accommodate the growth, so it sloughs off in patches revealing the light gray or white wood underneath. The moist, rich soil this tree prefers helps it grow exceedingly fast, often 100 feet in 20 years. The most striking feature of the American sycamore tree is the mottled pattern of the bark. Though not the tree in the Bible story, the American sycamore has interesting features and lore of its own. This “sycamore fig” tree bears so little resemblance to the sycamore of the Eastern and Central United States, Plantanus occidentalis, that it is classified in a totally different plant family ( Moracea, not Plantanaceae). This tree, which was common to roadsides in the Middle East, was known for its low and wide-spreading branches making it easy to climb and also for its production of sweet edible fruit clusters that are similar but inferior to the common fig. In a Bible story Zacchaeus, who was short, climbed up into a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus as he passed.
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