Scientific Name:
Liquidambar styraciflua
Pronunciation:
lick-wid-AM-bur stye-ruh-SIFF-loo-uh
Common Name:
American sweetgum
Family Name:
Altingiaceae
Plant Type:
Semi-evergreen, Tree - deciduous
Key ID Features:
Leaves alternate, orbicular, most 8-13cm wide, usually 5 lobed (reminiscent of some maples), most with brilliant fall colours from purple to yellow, most petioles 6-10cm long; balls of many tiny green-yellow florets, Apr-May. Winter ID: locally, the some specimens may retain leaves, branches may have corky outgrowths; leaf scar with three large bundle scars; persistent multiple fruit of fused capsules 1-3cm long.
Habit:
Open, Stiffly upright
Form:
Oval - vertical, Pyramidal - widely
Texture:
Medium
Mature Height:
15 - 22m
Mature Spread:
10 - 15m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
Mexico, U.S. - central
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun
Soil/Growing Medium:
Acidic
Water Use:
Moderate
Landscape Uses:
Fall interest, Specimen plant, Woodland margin
Additional Info:
Google. Cultivars shown or on campus may include L. 'Rotundiloba' (rounded lobes) and L. ‘Worplesdon’. Columnar cultivars include L. 'Slender Silhouette'.
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Heavily veined, Palmate venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Colour in Fall:
Yellow, Orange, Purple, Red, Dark-red
Shapes:
Orbicular
Apices:
Acuminate, Acute
Bases:
Cordate, Hastate, Truncate
Margins:
Serrate
Additional Info:
Spectacular fall colour
Inflorescence Type:
Raceme
Flower Morphology:
Monoecious plant
Number Of Petals:
0
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Yellow, Green-yellow (Male catkins may be green and pinkish red)
Flower Scent:
None
Flower Time at Peak:
Apr, May
Additional Info:
Male flowers in terminal racemes 5-8cm long; female flowers in a condensed spike in the axils of upper leaves
Fruit Type:
Capsule, Multiple fruit
Fruit Colour:
Brown, Black
Fruiting Time:
Aug, Sep
Additional Info:
Persistent
Bark Morphology:
Showy, Smooth, Deeply fissured, Corky, Single stem trunk
Bark or Stem Colour:
Grey
Leaf Bud Type:
Ovoid (Distinctive smell)
Leaf Scar Shape:
Heart shaped
Organ Modifications:
Corky twig outgrowths
Propagation:
Seed, Greenwood cuttings, Softwood cuttings, Layering
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
Anthracnose (Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant)
Specific Pests:
Course(s):
- HORT 1155
- Level 3 Apprenticeship
Location(s):
- (BCW) Boulevard (Circular) Westend : 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 312, 313, 314, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 364
- (BGR) Boulevard by Glover Road : 295, 327
- (TFL) Turf Field Lab
- (TFLE) Turf Field Lab East
- (WDH) Wark-Dumais House : 588