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Platanus racemosa

Platanus racemosa

9.9
A tall California tree with peeling bark, large lobed leaves, and round flower clusters
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : plátano de racimo
  • The Platanus racemosa is commonly known as the California sycamore.

Examples

  • The Platanus racemosa tree can grow up to 100 feet tall.

  • Many parks in southern California feature Platanus racemosa along walking trails.

  • Botanists study the unique bark patterns of Platanus racemosa in arid regions.

  • Many gardeners prefer Platanus racemosa for its beautiful foliage.

  • Many parks in southern California feature Platanus racemosa along walking trails.

  • The Platanus racemosa is commonly known as the California sycamore.

  • The Platanus racemosa tree can grow up to 100 feet tall.

Synonyms

Platanus
vsPlatanus racemosa
  • Specialized
1 9.5

A group of large trees that lose their leaves in winter, like the London plane and American sycamore

is a single species native to Baja California not the whole genus
California sycamore
vsPlatanus racemosa
  • US
7.6

A tall tree with pale, peeling bark and large lobed leaves

means the same but is the common English name rather than the scientific name

How Tall

big tree
  • Specialized
3 3.5
Platanus racemosa
  • Specialized
9.9
medium-sized
31 2.4
sapling
16 2.7
seedling
20 2.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

Platanus + racemosa

The form is compositional in that it is genus (Platanus) + species epithet, so a learner who knows the parts can recognise this as the name of a specific kind of plane/tree — a cross-linguistically common Latin binomial pattern. However, the epithet 'racemosa' is a Latin botanical descriptor (not common English) and its precise descriptive meaning (bearing racemes/particular flower-clusters) is technical and unlikely to be fully predictable to a B1 learner, making the expression only partly transparent.

Etymology

Platanus racemosa may come from old words: Platanus meaning 'wide' and racemosa meaning 'in clusters'. Think of a tall tree with very wide leaves and round balls of flowers on the branches, and that picture is why the name fits the 'California sycamore'.