How High Does the Sycamore Grow?

Size

• Sycamores normally develop from a single trunk, growing between 75 and 100 feet tall. Specimens approaching 150 feet occur, but this is the exception. The most impressive aspect of sycamores is the diameter of their trunks. They average between 2 and 4 feet wide, but individual trees much wider are on record. One sycamore with a 15-foot-trunk diameter existed, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region."

Growing Conditions

• In the wild, sycamores often occur next to large streams, swamps and rivers where the soil is fertile and rich. A sycamore achieves its greatest potential in the full sun, with well-draining ground a requirement for its best growth. Sycamores are tolerant of a variety of urban pollutants, notes the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Similar Species

• The Oriental plane tree, Platanus orientalis, is a close cousin of the American sycamore. It grows between 60 and 80 feet in southeastern Europe, with the largest individuals reaching heights of 120 feet. A cross between American sycamore and the Oriental plane tree, known as the London plane tree, Platanus x acerifolia, because of its widespread use as a shade tree in England, grows between 70 and 80 feet high, with some as big as 120 feet. Neither of these trees has the massive girth that a sycamore may feature.

Sycamore Versus Tulip Tree

• Only the tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, is as tall in the eastern forests as the American sycamore. At one time, before settlers harvested them for their lumber, this member of the Magnolia family featured trees as tall as 150 feet. Most today are in the 70- to 90-foot category. However, the trunks of these trees are between 2 and 3 feet wide, meaning they cannot come close to the actual volume that sycamores have.