Indeed!
Here in Belgium we mostly have London plane. The sycamore apparently does grow well here, but I've never seen mature ones. If I'm not mistaken the London plane is a hybrid between the occidentalis and the orientalis...
London plane being the most likely sycamore in Belgium makes sense. And correct on the hybrid, the Wiki entry describes two theories of 17th century hybridization:
"The species was formed by hybridization in the 17th century after
P. orientalis and
P. occidentalis had been planted in proximity to one another. It is most likely that the hybridization took place in Spain or southern France, as the
P. occidentalis parent needs considerable summer heat to grow well and is near-impossible to grow successfully in cooler climates like Britain, but there is also speculation that it could have happened in
Vauxhall Gardens in London where
John Tradescant the Younger saw the tree in the mid-17th century. The leaf and flower characteristics are intermediate between the two parent species, the leaf being more deeply lobed than
P. occidentalis but less so than
P. orientalis, and the seed balls typically two per stem (one in
P. occidentalis, 3–6 in
P. orientalis). The hybrid is fertile, and seedlings are occasionally found near mature trees."
In my eastern Massachusetts U.S. location the geology is granitic/low Ph soils, does not favor sycamore species. Most of what I see whether London plane or American sycamores are planted yard and street/park trees. There are isolated self-germinated P. occidentalis in forest wetlands and river floodplains. From central to western Massachusetts the geology changes dramatically across an ancient tectonic plate and the underlying geology becomes sedimentary and metamorphized sedimentary dominated by limestone and shale type rock. Sycamores thrive in the higher Ph floodplain soils and have great potential to grow huge.
Bark detail showing the bone white palest portion of American sycamore bark. Self-germinated tree, riverside habitat, Amherst, MA.
-AJ
