Plant ID: American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

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• published: 11 Jan 2014
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Genus: Liquidambar Species: styraciflus Family: HAMAMELIDACEAE/(Altingiaceae) Common name: Liquidamber, American sweetgum Plant type: Deciduous Origin: Eastern USA, Central America Habit/Form: The American sweetgum is a delightful stature of activity and display, busy with growth, fantastic to stand under and peer up into its crown. Solid elegance, many classic branching angles and shapes creating nooks and pockets of light and dark areas of varying sunlight shining through. Also can have many young/small branches and twigs radiating, corky growths and/or notable segments and branch markings. Many established styraciflus are full bodied, thick and/or tall, single trunk, can usually range around 30m height, often with an equally conical to broad dome. The trunk has furrowed grey bark, light brown. Can also be ashy grey colour, scaly. The furrow is not always strictly constant/uniform throughout the tree. Enjoys lots of room to grow, sunny positions, reliable moisture, well drained soils with a pH of 6-7. Yes it can be quite a hardy, vigorous tree, frost tolerant, grows in ranges of temperate climates and tropical/warm climates. Can have a shallow root system. Can have an aggressive root system. Long lived, easily a couple hundred years. The subfamily Altingioideae is currently being considered as the family Altingiaceae, representing some wind-pollinated trees that produce woody fruits with numerous seeds. The Liquidambar genera may be classified in this family. Leaves: An elegant star-shaped leaf with pleasant proportion and colours. Alternate on young stems, whorled on older spur growth, a palmately lobed (usually 5-7, sometimes 3 lobed) maple-like star shaped leaf with serrate margin, 120-200mm x 120-200mm. Green colour ranging from light to dark green, can be shiny, has a tendency to illuminate/glow in sunlight. Pale green underside. Great autumn colours of crimson, red, orange, and yellow (especially for those growing in warmer climates). In warm climates old leaves are constantly replaced by new growth so that styraciflua appears to be evergreen. It is common to see this tree described/classified as semi-evergreen. Flowers: Small uneventful/non-decorative greenish-yellow produced with new growth in spring. Fruit: (Somewhat like the London Plane Tree fruit, but styraciflua has notable spiky protrusions). The spiky protrusions are actually capsules containing 1-2 seeds. A green hard, dry, rounded/globose spiky ball hanging from the ends of branches, turning brown when ripe in autumn, persists on the tree throughout winter.