Good morning Tree lover! It's an interesting question. Acer platanoides - Norway maple and also Acer pseudoplatanus - Sycamore both make reference to Plane trees of the Platanus genus. Plane trees have been so important for centuries as a focal point in village squares across Europe. The suffix'....oides' means 'similar to' or like but the 'pseudo....' prefix refers to being deceptively similar! Indeed both Norway maple and Sycamore are superficially similar to a Plane tree even though of a different genus altogether. Hope this helps a little and thankyou for your interest in the EcoGeeko channel.
Fascinating ... how are the Latin names used to distinguish the different maples I wonder? For example, why 'Platanoides' ?
Good morning Tree lover! It's an interesting question. Acer platanoides - Norway maple and also Acer pseudoplatanus - Sycamore both make reference to Plane trees of the Platanus genus. Plane trees have been so important for centuries as a focal point in village squares across Europe. The suffix'....oides' means 'similar to' or like but the 'pseudo....' prefix refers to being deceptively similar! Indeed both Norway maple and Sycamore are superficially similar to a Plane tree even though of a different genus altogether. Hope this helps a little and thankyou for your interest in the EcoGeeko channel.