Historical Name: Clinton, NJ
Common Name: Sycamore
Latin Name: Platanus occidentalis
The quaint and historic town of Clinton, NJ is home to a huge American Sycamore that was most likely there before the town was settled. It grows on the east bank of the South Branch of the Raritan River, near the town’s Old Red Mill. It may be the largest tree in NJ, but this cannot be verified. The tree is embedded in a retaining wall along the river, and it is impossible to measure the trunk’s circumference accurately. At 105 feet in height, it is the tallest tree in Hunterdon County. The New Jersey Shade Tree Federation admires the tree’s size and form so much that they chose its likeness to appear on its award plaques. The tree found in UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove was grown from a seed collected from the Clinton, NJ Sycamore, and was planted into the Grove in 2003.