The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Sycamore

Scientific Names

Sycamore

  • Acer pseudoplatanus L.
  • Maple family

Common Names

  • Sycamore Maple

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Parts Usually Used

Bark
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Sycamore

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Sycamore maple is a large deciduous tree; it grows as high as 100 feet, and its spreading branches bear opposite, 5 lobed, coarsely crenate-serrate leaves which resemble those of the sycamore tree. The leaves are dark green on top, pale and whitish beneath. The yellowish-green flowers grow in hanging racemes, producing eventually the winged fruit characteristic of the maples.
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Where Found

Found in mountainous and upland areas of Europe and western Asia and cultivated to some extent in the United States.
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Medicinal Properties

Astringent, vulnerary
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Legends, Myths and Stories

This tree has characteristics of the sycamore but it is a maple tree. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) grows to 150 feet with bark that is mottled, multi-colored, and peeling. Fruits are globular.
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Uses

The bark has mild astringent properties and has been used to make a wash for skin problems and an eyewash for sore eyes. The inner bark of the tree, containing the sweet sap, can be used as dressing for wounds.
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Bibliography

Buy It! American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Buy It! Indian Uses of Native Plants, by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990

Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

Buy It! The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book), edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974

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