Sycamore - any data about seedling size?

Crazydancer

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We have one area of our field that has sycamore seeds/seedings, and last year had sheep graze the area off and had no issues. Sheep have now gone though, and we have not so far put horses on that area, but I noticed we now have a lot of sycamore plants there - so no longer seedlings exactly, more like mini shrubs! With 10+ leaves and some with several stems. Does anyone know if there is any data to say if the plants are still dangerous, regardless of size? Or once they are past the seedling stage, are they safe?

Thanks!
 

Crazydancer

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Yes I am aware of the seedling danger... but in this case you could not call them seedlings - hence the question! They are now small plants, some about 1ft high.... No-one has ever said sycamore leaves are bad, so the assumption is that at some stage the plant is no longer a danger.
 

Butterbear

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I have spent several hours this year collecting seedlings out of my grazing. Just go and manually pull them up. Why take the chance. Also if any mature successfully enough to produce seed themselves, your problem has just gotten a lot worse next year.
 

meleeka

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Yes I am aware of the seedling danger... but in this case you could not call them seedlings - hence the question! They are now small plants, some about 1ft high.... No-one has ever said sycamore leaves are bad, so the assumption is that at some stage the plant is no longer a danger.
Sorry I was in a rush and didn’t read the question properly.

It seems the jury is out on whether the leaves are poisonous but since you can send leaves for testing, I’d assume they are unless proven otherwise.

https://liphookequinehospital.co.uk...e-poisoning-in-horses-information-for-owners/
 

Crazydancer

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Thanks! We can try and pull them all up (which will take a good while) or can try and get cows on there to eat them off if there is still a risk. I'll also look into testing, there seems to be only 1 tree in that corner, so it would be good if we can find out if it's a potential problem.
:)
 
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