Taxon

Liquidambar styraciflua

 
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Liquidambar styraciflua - American Sweetgum, American Storax, Sweetgum
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Common name: American Sweetgum, American Storax, Sweetgum
Family: Altingiaceae (Sweet Gum Family)
Synonym: Liquidambar styraciflua var. rotundiloba
Distribution: C and E USA to C America
Habitat: Bottomland areas with rich, moist soil, 0-2100 meters
Hardiness: -20 - 30 F
Life form: Deciduous tree
Fall color: Orange, red, purple
Foliage characteristics: Palmate, alternate, leaves with 5-7 lobes and serrated margins. 4-8" long. Leaves have a camphor scent when crushed.
Fruit characteristics: Spiny ball which turns brown over time. 1-1.5" long. Appear in late summer and fall and persist into winter.
Bloom Time: March to May
Bark characteristics: Gray-brown, deeply furrowed with narrow ridges.
Average height: 60-80'
Structure: Young: pyramidal Mature: rounded
Bloom characteristics: Non-showy, spherical clusters. Male and female on same plant.
Key ID characteristics: Able to distinguish from maples due to alternate leaf arrangment; aromatic foliage; distinct fruit balls; corky ridges on stems - although can often be absent.
Ethnobotanical uses: The Cherokee, Choctaw, Koasati, Rappahannock, and other Native American tribes used the hardened sap of this tree as a chewing gum. Tea was made from the fruit and the bark.
Medicinal/pharmaceutical: Some Native Americans made a salve from this tree to apply to wounds, cuts, sores, bruises, and ulcers. Roots could be made into a strong tea to treat skin sores. Some of the sap could be taken before meals to reduce fevers, and the sap and inner bark were used to treat diarrhea and dysentery. Bark could be used in making a sedative for nervous. The tree was also used to treat colic and internal diseases.
Description: Sweetgums are notable for their sharply pointed leaves and ornament-like, spiky fruit. While sweetgum balls are atmospheric when looking up at them dangling from leafless branches in the fall and winter, they are less romantic once they have hit the ground. When scattered across sidewalks or hidden in lawns, they are more likely to call to mind medieval flails.
The origin of sweetgum’s common name is quite literal; its sap was once collected, allowed to harden, and used as a chewing gum. Sweetgum is a tree of Special Concern in Connecticut.
Links: Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families • Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder • University of Connecticut Plant Database • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Locations

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