My new tree to follow – a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff, with a dog walker on the right for scale
Happy New Year! It’s time for me to choose a new tree to follow in 2023 – although I know some tree followers plump for a new subject in Spring when nature starts waking up again.
i have decided on a tree even closer to my Cardiff home than last year’s. That tulip tree in Victoria Park took me 20 to 30 minutes to reach on foot, while this one takes about 10 minutes – and only five minutes to reach a point where I can see it from the road.
As revealed in the photo above, I have selected a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields. In America this would be called a sycamore maple but in the UK it’s simply a sycamore.
I have taken photos of this tree before on my visits to the fields (here is a photo from May 2020), but this time I will study it in detail.
Here are my photos from a visit on January 2, a rare sunny day in this very wet first month of the year…
The tree viewed from the main road…
I had to plod through thick mud to reach the sycamore – across a rugby pitch
The sycamore is next to a lime/linden tree but otherwise isolated
Top of the tree…
…the bronze colour comes from last year’s keys (also known as whirlybirds) – the technical name for this sort of winged seed is a samara
Light green leaf buds are also visible
More leaf buds on a few branches sprouting from the base of the trunk
Sunny side of the tree
A discarded wooden post at the base…
…possibly a corner flag from the rugby pitch?
There were also a couple of lumps of stone near the tree – no idea where they came from…
Shady side of the trunk
Textured bark
Looking up at the branches
In the crook of the tree is another small tree, which has been there for years. I think maybe I identified it once as an elder (Sambucus nigra)?
The leaves of the little tree can be seen on the left, still green
A distinctive disc where a branch has been lopped off…
…a closer look
A snake-like branch…
…coated in moss…
…a closer look
The lime tree next to the sycamore, viewed through the sycamore’s branches…
…and both trees seen from the avenue that leads across the fields from the main road
That’s it for now – see you again next month…
The Squirrelbasket 
I’d like to know why sycamore/sycamore maple was so named. What is it that makes it a pseudo platanus? “Sycamore” was one of the first tree species I learned long ago in California—Platanus racemosa.
That’s a good looking tree to follow, with plenty of interest as your photos show. I look forward to seeing your posts about it over the coming months. xx
Samara is a lovely word – I wonder where it comes from, and what it means (beyond ‘this sort of seed’)
Apparently in Latin it was originally the seed of the elm, which isn’t too helpful, really, and not romantic, either.
It always reminds me of the Shannara Chronicles fantasy series…
All the best 🙂