Does anyone know how to tell sycamore from feild maple?

[ElleSkywalker]

So this year some little trees that have been in our feild since we moved here 6 years ago have started to have little helicopter seeds. Cue me having panics re AM & sycamores.

The trees were planted at least 7 or so years ago by previous occupants who also had horses but not sure if link between sycamore & AM was known then?

After lots of Googleing am still not sure if trees are feild maple or sycamore.

Does anyone know how to tell? If I post a pic would someone be able to tell it do I need a tree expert to come & look?

Kitkats for all (including orange ones)

 

[stencilface]

Post a pic and I'll tell you

(in my mind field maple almost look a bit like hawthorn, whereas syacmore are always like a hand in a webbed glove iykwim)

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Pics on the way, we also have lots of it in the hedge down drive. its all pretty young & this is first year its seeded.

 

[STRIKER]

I have trees that look like sycamore but no helicopters just a bush type thing hanging at the end of the branch, would this be maple.

 

[DaveSkywalker]

Pics

 

[fatbird]

Sycamores have larger leaves, roughly 3"-4" across at a guess, while field maple are more like 2" or less. The helicopter seeds can look like a 'brush' as they are carried in a cluster until they fall

 

[fatbird]

They look like field maple to me...

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Thanks FB the leaves are quite little but wasn't sure if that was just because they are young trees.

So feild maple like these are ok as they don't have the toxin that causes AM? Also they are def green as I found while Googleing that red feild maple is not good!

*dishes out kitkats & goes for lie down in darken room*

 

[STRIKER]

The brush i am talking about is really like a cluster of the tiniest of flowers, bit like a basil brush, i know what the helicopters look like, but leaves are wide 3-5inches and have 5 edges to them

 

[DaveSkywalker]

Don't give away all my KitKats Elle

 

[stencilface]

Yep, look like field maple to me, which is an Acer like sycamore, but afaik a horse friendly one. They're like a cross between oak and sycamore aren't they?

 

[Shay]

The toxin believed to be responsible - Hypogycin A - has been found in seeds from many Acer species; of which sycamore is one. But Field maple, and box Elder already identified in the US as causally linked to AM, are others. The presence of the tree alone isn't causative. There also needs to be limited other feed options and seeds / leaves present in the field. You don't necessarily need to chop down your trees - whether they are Acer Campestre or Acer psuedoplatanus. If your grazing is otherwise good and you are able to remove leaves / seeds that should suffice. You can read the summary of the study here http://www.beva.org.uk/news-and-events/news/view/438

 

[cambrica]

Yep, look like field maple to me, which is an Acer like sycamore, but afaik a horse friendly one. They're like a cross between oak and sycamore aren't they?

Their not in anyway related. Oak is related to a beech. Oak genus is Quercus and Beech is Fagus but they are both in the Fagaceae family.
Acer- all of them are in the Aceraceae family.
It does look like a field maple.

 

[stencilface]

Their not in anyway related. Oak is related to a beech. Oak genus is Quercus and Beech is Fagus but they are both in the Fagaceae family.
Acer- all of them are in the Aceraceae family.
It does look like a field maple.

I know that, I mean the leaf shape - bad choice of words, thats how I think about them, and I find its a easy way of explaining it as most people know what an oak or hawthorn leaf is like.

A field maple is not an oak/sycamore hybrid

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Just read that paper & it doesn't identify feild maple as containing the toxin, but rather confusing it refers to Sycamore by its alternate name, Sycamore Maple, and that and the Box Elder have been identified as containing the toxin

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Stencilface, they should be renamed Oakamores

 

[hairycob]

Adequate grass & the presence of other forage DOES NOT guarantee that your horse will not get AM. I can, sadly, vouch for that twice over. It may reduce the risk but it will not eliminate it. Other cases I have heard if this spring also bear this out. I suspect that the number of seedlings is at an unusually high level & are being taken in with grass.z

 

[cambrica]

I know that, I mean the leaf shape - bad choice of words, thats how I think about them, and I find its a easy way of explaining it as most people know what an oak or hawthorn leaf is like.

A field maple is not an oak/sycamore hybrid

An Oakamore would give us even more to worry about! Helicoptors, acorns and seedlings

 

[cambrica]

Adequate grass & the presence of other forage DOES NOT guarantee that your horse will not get AM. I can, sadly, vouch for that twice over. It may reduce the risk but it will not eliminate it. Other cases I have heard if this spring also bear this out. I suspect that the number of seedlings is at an unusually high level & are being taken in with grass.z

So sorry to hear that x
I don't have sycamore trees around my field but I do garden for a living and have been pulling up seedlings by the hundreds! The problem also is that the seed leaves are long and linear shaped so harder to spot in grass.

 

[hairycob]

The beggars also travel a long way & when you have several ash trees much closer it easy to confuse them. I am looking at the best way to set up a fund to raise money for education & research as there are so many unanswered questions & only the Uni of Liege currently has any research interest (but not the money).