This large tree grows to in height with a trunk diameter of up to one meter (three feet). A specimen on the campus of Stanford University has a trunk girth (circumference) of . The trunk generally divides into two or more large trunks splitting into many branches. The bark is an attractive patchwork of white, tawny beige, pinkish gray, and pale brown, with older bark becoming darker and peeling away. "Platanus racemosa" is the dominant species in the globally and state endangered sycamore-alluvial woodland habitat.