# Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii)

> Arizona sycamore, Platanus wrightii: a large tree of 80 feet where planted, for zones 7 to 10, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/arizona-sycamore/

![Arizona sycamore trunks mottled white, green and tan among lobed leaves turning orange](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/arizona-sycamore-1000.jpg?v=ddc03953 "Arizona sycamores at Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona, on October 25, 2011. The oldest one cored at Ramsey Canyon was about 235 years old.")
*Photo: SonoranDesertNPS, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAZSycamore2_%286541128705%29.jpg))*

Large tree, 80 feet where planted, zones 7 to 10; full sun or part shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow Arizona sycamore, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Arizona Sycamore |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Arizona planetree, Wright's sycamore |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 80 where planted; up to 82 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 7 to 10 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to May |
| Fruit | Seed balls, October to March |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated tree. Male and female flowers grow on the same tree, and the wind carries the pollen between trees. A lone sycamore sets few filled seeds from its own pollen, so plant a second one nearby. |
| Lifespan | Can live 235 years. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Stream banks, floodplain forests and rocky ground |
| Native in | 2 states |

Arizona sycamore is native in 2 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ) and [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System, the Flora of North America and the Wildflower Center.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=arizona-sycamore): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=arizona-sycamore:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/index.html.md) (*Ptelea trifoliata*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md) (*Juglans microcarpa*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of Arizona sycamore in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=arizona-sycamore)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Flora of North America, SEINet, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, New Mexico State University Extension, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and Western North American Naturalist.