The stately Platanus occidentalis, also known as sycamore, American sycamore or American planetree, is an American native and a valued timber species. The sycamore is a long-lived species, typically surviving at least 200 years and likely as long as 500-600 years.

It is easily distinguished from other trees by its mottled bark, which flakes off in large irregular masses, leaving the surface mottled and gray, greenish-white, and brown. The bark of all trees has to yield to a growing trunk by stretching, splitting, or infilling, but sycamore bark is more rigid and less elastic than the bark of other trees, so to accommodate the growth of the wood underneath, the tree sheds it in large, brittle pieces.

Source: Wikipedia.