Where do sycamore seeds fall?

Apparently all the storms we had helped to blow the seeds further than usual.

I have lots of seedlings (have been pulling them up) but I'm not sure if they are sycamores or not. Off to look on google now...
 
hairycob said:
I don't think anyone understands why HP got ill. All the advice is keep a close eye for 3 days after moving out of "bad" field. He came out on the evening if the 11th & fell ill on the 19th. I am determined that something positive will come of this & am researching how to raise funds for research & education. This may mean setting up a charity if I can't find an existing body to piggy back on.
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Good for you Hairycob. Support you 100% in this.xxx
 
Rollin said:
My young stable jockey, in France, has just lost a Falabella and Shetland to poisoning from Sycamore. No trees near him. He thought someone had poisoned them and the vet had checked the paddock.

It was found to be sycamore. Wind can carry the seeds a long way.
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This is what makes it all SO scary!
 
EstherYoung said:
The seeds get everywhere and fly a long way - it's not like oak where the acorns just drop. Just have a look at how many are underfoot at seeding time as you walk down the road even.

They are very common trees round here - I'd say every field in the local area is at risk.
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So basically no one who is remotely near neighbouring sycamores is safe. I don't think any of us have really had to worry about sycamores before but now it appears they are the new equine bogey man.
 
As per my posts earlier I had a shock thinking we had a sycamore at the yard I'm on, it's not, its a field maple which has the same leaves and also helicopter looking seeds but there's no seedlings underneath. I've checked the images and the barks are totally different, sycamore being smooth and sheds, seeds are a different shape, so for,those of you saying you have a few in your fields check are not the field maple which does not have the toxin in the seeds.

The field with the case near me I thought had a number of sycamore in fact it's only one the rest are maple. This does mean it's possible to have it removed ( if land owner agrees) whereas when we thought it was lots I know they wouldn't have.

Field maple has cork rough bark

https://www.google.com/#q=bark+of+field+maple



Sycamore has smooth bark which 'exfoliates'

https://www.google.com/#q=bark+of+sycamore+tree[/QUOTE]
 
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It is not just the wind that can spread the seeds, in the wet winter we have had I would have thought seeds could travel a fair way in flood water.
 
While I appreciate the necessity to protect the horses and ponies from these seeds and seedling I am somewhat alarmed at the idea of felling mature trees, having lost a lot of ash, lime and elm trees is would seem somewhat drastic for the country side for the mass extermination of sycamore trees. So without appearing unfeeling please can someone point me in the direction of peer reviewed scientific proof that sycamores are the culprit in the cases of Myopathy. It takes tens if not hundreds of years for the countryside to recover from the damage done to trees many of which will have preservation orders on and could land you with a huge planning problem and immense cost.
Formerly the cause was held to be bacteria from rotting leaves and fungi spores so it does seem a bit half cocked to start vandalising the countryside
 
windand rain said:
While I appreciate the necessity to protect the horses and ponies from these seeds and seedling I am somewhat alarmed at the idea of felling mature trees, having lost a lot of ash, lime and elm trees is would seem somewhat drastic for the country side for the mass extermination of sycamore trees. So without appearing unfeeling please can someone point me in the direction of peer reviewed scientific proof that sycamores are the culprit in the cases of Myopathy. It takes tens if not hundreds of years for the countryside to recover from the damage done to trees many of which will have preservation orders on and could land you with a huge planning problem and immense cost.
Formerly the cause was held to be bacteria from rotting leaves and fungi spores so it does seem a bit half cocked to start vandalising the countryside
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I do understand your comments but with limited grazing options open to most and the near death of one horse (not to mention the sudden death of a youngster last year in the same paddock ) I can see every side. There's lots linking the presence of sycamore in a huge percentage of cases out there:

http://www.beva.org.uk/news-and-events/news/view/438
 
Rollin said:
My young stable jockey, in France, has just lost a Falabella and Shetland to poisoning from Sycamore. No trees near him. He thought someone had poisoned them and the vet had checked the paddock.

It was found to be sycamore. Wind can carry the seeds a long way.
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I am sorry to hear this. Can you explain how they determined it to be sycamore, what tests etc confirmed it?
thanks
 
A lot of the pics of sycamore bark in the link above are American sycamore, which are a different tree (although also linked to a myopathy like condition). Details of how to identify European sycamore are here: http://www.rfs.org.uk/learning/sycamore and field maple here: http://www.rfs.org.uk/learning/Field-maple

Field maple have smaller, rounder leaves that go golden in the autumn. The flowers are very different too. One definite way of telling is the zillions of aphids that sycamores will be attracting soon.
 
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