Sycamore Maple · Acer pseudoplatanus

A fast-growing, broad-domed deciduous tree reaching 25 to 35 m at maturity with a spread of 12 to 20 m, arce blanco (sycamore maple) is the large maple of the Iberian uplands, native to the Pyrenees and the Cordillera Cantábrica. Within a Spanish palette it occupies the structural shade-tree role that plátano de sombra (Platanus × acerifolia) plays on the meseta, with native status in the north, lower exposure to Ceratocystis platani, and a coarsely five-lobed leaf rather than a palmate one.

Hardiness reaches roughly -34 °C, making the species reliable across the humid Atlantic northwest, Pyrenean and Cantabrian valley-bottom plantings, and the cooler half of the central plateau. South of the Sistema Central it requires irrigation in establishment and meets a real summer-heat limit; on the eastern Mediterranean coast and through the semi-arid southeast it is not the right specification. Salt tolerance is high, which makes it one of the more dependable broadleaves for Atlantic and Cantabrian cornisa alignments where Tilia and Aesculus struggle with onshore wind.

Once anchored after the second or third summer in a northern Spanish climate, the tree carries itself on rainfall in zones receiving above roughly 700 mm annually; drier zones remain an irrigated specification. It accepts loams, clays, and well-drained alkaline or slightly acidic soils, tolerates urban pollutants, and handles compacted pits at municipal scale. Tar spot (Rhytisma acerinum) is a cosmetic foliar disease without structural consequence; the watchpoint is sooty bark disease (Cryptostroma corticale), which can express on stressed trees following prolonged hot dry summers.

Two further considerations belong on the pliego de condiciones. Seedlings and samaras contain hypoglycin A, the toxin behind atypical equine myopathy (miopatía atípica equina), which is project-relevant wherever rural sites carry horse stabling or grazing within seed-fall radius. The species also self-seeds vigorously, so on woodland-edge or rewilding-adjacent sites the servicio de parques y jardines should weigh sapling management against specifying a less prolific alternative such as Acer platanoides.