London plane

Sycamore

Lookalikes

London plane or sycamore?

Both are big park trees with lobed leaves and flaking bark.

The quickest check

The quickest check is how the leaves sit. London plane: one at a time along the shoot. Sycamore: in opposite pairs, one each side. No leaves on the tree? Check the winter bud.

At a glance

Look at	London plane	Sycamore
How the leaves sit	One at a time along the shoot	In opposite pairs, one each side
Winter bud	A reddish horn under one scale	Big, green and egg-shaped, in facing pairs
Fruit	Bristly balls, two to six to a hanging stalk	Paired winged keys, wings at a right angle or narrower
Older trunk	A patchwork of grey, cream and olive	Small pale grey plates lifting at one edge

Four ways to tell them apart

How the leaves sitLeaves

London plane: how the leaves sit — London planeOne at a time along the shoot

Sycamore: how the leaves sit — SycamoreIn opposite pairs, one each side

Winter budTwigs and buds

London planeA reddish horn under one scale

SycamoreBig, green and egg-shaped, in facing pairs

FruitSeed balls

London plane: fruit — London planeBristly balls, two to six to a hanging stalk

Sycamore: fruit — SycamorePaired winged keys, wings at a right angle or narrower

Older trunkBark

London plane: older trunk — London planeA patchwork of grey, cream and olive

Sycamore: older trunk — SycamoreSmall pale grey plates lifting at one edge

Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

London plane

Platanus × hispanica

London plane is a big city tree with bark that flakes off in patches of grey, cream and olive. All winter, round bristly seed balls hang from its bare branches.

How to identify London plane →

Sycamore

Acer pseudoplatanus

Sycamore grows into a huge, heavy dome. Its large leaves have five lobes edged with coarse, blunt teeth, and its paired keys hang with their wings set at a right angle or narrower.

How to identify sycamore →

Their other lookalikes

London plane or eucalyptus?Quickest check: the outline of a leaf

London plane or field maple?Quickest check: the leaf and how it sits

London plane or Norway maple?Quickest check: how the leaves sit

London plane or wild service tree?Quickest check: how the lobes are set

Sycamore or common ash?Quickest check: the whole leaf

Sycamore or field maple?Quickest check: the lobes and their teeth

Sycamore or horse chestnut?Quickest check: the parts of one leaf

Sycamore or Japanese maple?Quickest check: the leaf edge

Sycamore or Norway maple?Quickest check: the leaf edge

In the app

See them side by side in Treely

Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them

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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), pete_gateley (CC0), oliverc29 (CC BY 4.0), Kieran Roy Powell (CC BY 4.0), Susan Marley (CC BY 4.0), Yves Bas (CC BY 4.0), bobwardell (CC0), friendsofdrpep (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.