Mexican Sycamore

Platanus mexicana

As its name implies, this rapidly growing deciduous tree is native to central and northeastern Mexico. It has very large, beautiful, maple-shaped bright green leaves, with soft-white, fuzzy undersides.  But probably the most stunning quality about this tree is its bark: a living work of art that gets more beautiful and intricate with age.

Mexican sycamore trees can get up to 80 feet tall in their natural environment, but in most home landscapes they only reach to a height of about 50, with a canopy spread of 30 to 40 feet wide.

Mexican sycamores are very drought tolerant once established, but they’ll perform much better if given plenty of irrigation for about the first 3 years after planting.

As with most trees, Mexican sycamore does best in full sun and winter’s still a great time to plant trees even though we normally recommend planting in fall to establish them before hot weather arrives.