Sycamore maple or London plane: how to tell them apart?
Sycamore maple and London plane look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Sycamore maple
Acer pseudoplatanus
London plane
Platanus x hispanica
Despite its name, sycamore is not a plane tree, but their lobed leaves look very similar at a distance. London plane has characteristic bark that flakes off in large coloured plates (green, grey, beige), whereas sycamore bark stays grey and cracks into small irregular plates; the fruits also differ clearly: pendent balls on London plane, winged samaras on sycamore.
🍃 Leaves
Large opposite leaves with 5 lobes, often 10 to 25 cm, with the underside more or less hairy depending on the individual; the sinuses between the lobes are generally deeper than in Norway maple.
Broad, with 3 to 5 lobes, resembling those of maple
🌸 Flowers
Yellowish-green pendent racemes
Small, drooping spherical flower heads
🍎 Fruits
Samaras with very widely spread wings, almost at a right angle
Spiky balls persisting throughout the winter
🪵 Bark
Grey, flaking off in irregular plates with age
Flakes off in large plates, leaving pale patches
📏 Size
20 to 30 m tall, sometimes more
25 to 35 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Cool forests, often in the mountains
Widely planted in towns and in avenues
⚠️ Toxicity
Seeds and young shoots rich in hypoglycin A, toxic to horses (atypical myopathy); no known risk to humans from mere contact
Stinging hairs on the young fruits can irritate the skin and respiratory tract
🔎 And from the London plane side
London plane has characteristic bark flaking off in large coloured plates (green, grey, cream) and fruits in drooping balls, whereas sycamore has more uniformly grey, fissured bark and winged fruits (samaras) — yet the lobed leaves of the two look very similar from a distance.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.