10/16/2025
Yes, believe it or not this is one tree -- a massive, four-trunked American Sycamore. I ran across this beauty this week at the Cedar Creek Greenway in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. This short but scenic trail is definitely worth checking out and features an impressive variety of trees. In fact, there will be a tree ID workshop and hike there this Sunday by Wilson County Master Gardener Association and Cedar Creek Greenway Restoration Project. Water Oak, American Hornbeam, and Shellbark Hickory were just a few of the species I spotted along the trail.
American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) is one of the tallest deciduous trees in the U.S. and commonly found growing along streams, lakes and ponds. Its often massive trunks can reach up to 8 to 12 feet in diameter. It is easily recognized by its brown and white mottled bark, which becomes totally white on the upper trunk and branch surfaces, giving it the nickname “ghost tree.”
Its globular, ball-like fruits hang on the trees through winter, breaking up or falling off the following spring. The close-textured wood is often used for lumber, veneer, furniture, crates, and butcher blocks.
Native Americans used the trunks of sycamores to make dugout canoes. Hollow specimens are used as dens for owls, bats, squirrels, and raccoons. Before widespread European settlement, the hollow trunks of old, giant sycamores were often homes for chimney swifts, and even sheltered early settlers.
