Where do sycamore seeds fall?

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Patchworkpony

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Given the horror that sycamore seeds can cause I was wondering how many people have noticed exactly where the seeds fell last year and where the seedlings are growing now. Is it more or less under the trees or is it lots of metres away from the main tree in a paddock? I rang the RHS today, as I am a member, and spoke to their information department. They seemed to think that most of the seeds dropped under the trees but they did say last autumn was 'logged' as an exceptional year for acorns, conkers and of cause sycamore seeds.
 
Surely it must depend on the wind a lot. Sycamore seeds are the 'aeroplanes' which spin round as they fall. The majority would be around the tree where not so many would grow due to competition from the mother tree but if the wind was blowing as they fell then they could be in a much larger area .
 
Our paddock is just under an acre and the sycamore tree is in the middle, more or less. I have been pulling seedlings up from over the fencing around the outside of the field as well as inside. They do travel a long way.
 
Thanks lelly - this is what I am worried about. We have sycamores all down the other side of the lane from our paddock at our new house and I am now worried that they may blow into the field. I am sorely tempted not to get any more ponies as I will live in fear of them being poisoned. I just wonder how long the seeds go on dropping. I mean do you keep animals confined for a month or six weeks while you pick up the seeds or do they drop all winter?
 
It is a very tricky situation. I have never had a problem with the sycamore. The seeds drop for ages in the autumn and now all the seedlings are growing. The best I can do is keep clearing up as much as possible. I don't have anywhere else to keep my horses.
 
I have 4.5 acres as an oblong shape of around 1.4 acres wide & the rest long.
In every paddock there are sycamore seedlings, apart from the corner of the very wet one, in the far south westerly corner
Imagine that the tree is at 'B' if my area was a dressage arena - that is how far they are spread... sigh....
 
The nearest sycamore tree to the paddock Jason fell ill in was about 80m away. When the seedlings started to grow we thought they were ash as there are ash trees on the edge of the field. The paddock HP fell ill in was a bit further away. I think last years gales spread the seeds further than usual.
 
Interestingly I have seen the paddock which led to a case of atypical myopathy last week and it has areas covered in seedlings. I was poo picking my mares field and noticed that in the far far corner of the field there is what looks like a maple/ sycamore, it has seeds on it now they look like they will be the helicopter ones. Now ther are no seedlings at all under the tree I looked everywhere of course I'm paranoid so. Would know. So whys that then do we think??
 
hairycob said:
The nearest sycamore tree to the paddock Jason fell ill in was about 80m away. When the seedlings started to grow we thought they were ash as there are ash trees on the edge of the field. The paddock HP fell ill in was a bit further away. I think last years gales spread the seeds further than usual.
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Is your field surrounded by trees HC, is there a river nearby - any of the other indicators?
 
12 acre site with hedge & quite a lot of trees around the 3 sides of the boundary. Mostly ash, birch, willow, hawthorn, blackthorn & hornbeam. Some field maple but that isn't meant to contain the toxin. No sycamores on the property but there is one in the adjacent property. Brook on the 4th side but there is a track between the brook & the paddocks. The paddock HP was in when he fell ill was in the middle with no adjacent trees or hedge.
 
I use a ajustable leaf rake and a poo scoop. I do get loads but also miss a lot. Thats why I am pulling seedlings now. It takes hours of work.
 
hairycob said:
12 acre site with hedge & quite a lot of trees around the 3 sides of the boundary. Mostly ash, birch, willow, hawthorn, blackthorn & hornbeam. Some field maple but that isn't meant to contain the toxin. No sycamores on the property but there is one in the adjacent property. Brook on the 4th side but there is a track between the brook & the paddocks. The paddock HP was in when he fell ill was in the middle with no adjacent trees or hedge.
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There is more to this than straight sycamore, the paddock with my local case has trees on three sides and a stream on the 4th. It flooded in the winter, did yours?
 
I'm panicking now!
Spent my savings so horse could retire at home - have approx one and a half acres (so will have horse and a companion pony), maybe a bit more, split in to two paddocks. Smallest paddock has a huge sycamore in the middle - thought it would provide good shade in the summer!!!! Other paddock has what look like smaller sycamores along the whole of one side.
I'm beside myself with worry now :(
Are there other trees in the sycamore family and are they just as poisonous?
 
Hairycob - did you notice lots of seedlings in the paddock or were there just one or two? Wonderful article in the Mail by the way. Took it with me to a show on Sunday and started to educate people about the dangers of sycamores.
 
Question from me too how can you tell the difference between field maple and a sycamore, I'm wondering if the one in my field is a field maple as there were no seedlings?

The case near me was out 24x7
 
Thanks pollyp99 - I've just googled field maple and it seems some of the trees I thought were sycamore are field maple instead.

From what I can see the sycamore leaves are much broader and more veiny - also looks like the field maple doesn't have helicopter seeds.
I still have a huge sycamore to contend with but feel a little less panicked!
 
Yes mine were out 24/7 from the beginning of March. The field that Jason fell ill in (field A)didn't flood at all. The bottom part of the field that HP fell ill in (field B)flooded at the bottom but he was in the top part. There were a lot of seedlings in field A which we thought were ash & were only able to identify as sycamore after Jason had died. HP was then restricted to about .5 acre in field B that we could check twice a day for seedlings & given haylage. There were a lot of seedlings in the bottom part of the field & only a few in the top part he was restricted to. That was the reason he had the top part - we could go over it & take them all out before he went in & keep it clear by hand while poo picking. We also picked up any dead leaves that blew in but tbh there were only a dozen or so over the whole week. They had been in field B for most of March only moving to field A 2 weeks before Jason died. Ironically they spent the previous 3.5 months in the winter field closer to the sycamore tree.
 
hairycob - if you moved HP to a safer place and kept it clear by hand I don't understand why he got ill when you had been SO careful. It doesn't make sense.
 
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.
 
Hairycob - I have so much respect for you. Thank you for the reply - perhaps it was a delayed reaction. I really admire the way you are going to use this experience to help others and not wallow in your own grief. My advice to you would be to contact lots of horse magazines and get them to put out an appeal to help you get your research/charity started and also possibly the top drawer country magazines such as Country Life and Field. Editors are always looking for a new story (I used to write for some of these mags years ago) and given the right slant you should be able to reach out to those who can help and maybe even start the funding. Good luck!
 
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.
 
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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