Chief Garry Park Champion

Spokane's Heritage Tree Register calls this sycamore maple a candidate for the state size record: 56 feet tall, plain green leaves, standing in Chief Garry Park on its own, away from any of this page's other clusters. It is not the only large sycamore maple in Spokane's tree records. A 2012 survey by historian Laura Arksey separately names a variegated sycamore maple, its leaves patched cream rather than plain green, at the former Amasa B. Campbell estate in Browne's Addition, and calls that one the largest of its particular form in the state. The two are different trees in different neighbourhoods; the register entry for this one records no variegation, so the two should not be merged into one. Sycamore maple is a European species, planted across American cities for its tolerance of poor soil and city air rather than for its looks. A 56-foot specimen large enough to be named a state size candidate is a fair reason to detour through a park most visitors would otherwise skip. Only the register has measured it, and no second source has confirmed the figures or the ranking. If you know its girth or its age, tell us.