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March SYCAMORE (Platanus occidentalis) AT MARKLAND WOOD GOLF CLUB This native Sycamore had made its home on the flood plain of the Humber River for over 100 years when Hurricane Hazel struck in 1954. Hazel wreaked chaos and destruction in Toronto’s watershed areas. The flash flooding was severe - bridges were destroyed, houses were swept off their foundations, maturetrees were uprooted, and 93 people lost their lives in what became one of Canada’s worst natural disasters. This old Sycamore survived being inundated with a sudden surge of two metres of water even as the bridge over Dundas Street West, succumbing to the force of the rushing waters, gave way and broke up. Situated about 15 metres from Etobicoke Creek, the tree is now part of the Markland Wood Golf Club, a majestic witness to golfers putting and swinging their clubs at the 12th hole. Fast growing and long-lived, the Sycamore is one of our largest native deciduous trees. It is particularly attractive because of its distinctive, whitish exfoliating bark that creates a myriad of mottled shapes and patterns on its trunk and older limbs. The tree thrives in open areas with wet soils and has adapted well for survival with an extensive web of roots that spread out like an open net, anchoring it over a very wide base. It also sends roots downward from this wide area, towards the water table. The tree is therefore not easily toppled by windstorms, even those of hurricane force, nor does its thirst often go unquenched. Because of its unique size (approximately 27 metres in height) and longevity, the Markland Wood Golf Club is propagating saplings from seed collected from this and other sister trees, assisted by the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation. They will be planted on the property, ensuring that this invaluable gene pool of heritage trees going back thousands of years is not lost. Photographs and Texts Copyright © Vincenzo Pietropaolo, 2010 Back To:
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