OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Saxifragales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Altingiaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Hamamelidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Liquidambar styraciflua

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 095-01-001:

Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Hamamelidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Liquidambar styraciflua

 

COMMON NAME:
Sweetgum


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux    dcp34_p36a

        

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_399

        

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_list2_001_lvd

        

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm0301a_13a

January    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

Tall & straight with a very compact pyramidal crown, per Teaching the Trees (Maloof, 2007).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm170103_058

January    Greenville County    SC

Some people refer to Sweetgum's corky, winged stems as "bacon on a stick"...

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styraciflua_4

January        

Styles indurate [hardened] and spiny in fruit, incurved, per Flora of North America.

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm210209_8709

February    Greenville County    SC

Blackwell Heritage Preserve

Is this the cocoon of a Luna Moth?

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm0403p_34

March    Greenville County    SC

Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve

The corky bark seen on some twigs provides texture and winter appeal, per Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm100314_126

March    Decatur County    GA

Sweetgum is a preferred host plant of the luna moth (Actias luna), per Bringing Nature Home (Tallamy, 2007).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styraciflua_2

March        

Produces an aromatic balsamic oleo-resin called American styrax or storax, per Flora of North America.

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm0204a_20

April    Anderson County    SC

Sweetgum trees don't begin to flower until at least 20 years old, per Teaching the Trees (Maloof, 2007).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Gill Newberry    gn05_liquidamber_fruits

May        

Flower heads develop into spherical compound fruit with multiple capsules, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styraciflua

September        

Fruit a spiny ball of many capsules, persistent, woody, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styraciflua_1

September        

Wood is used for cabinet making, furniture, veneer, barrels, and wooden dishes, per Flora of North America.

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styraciflua_6

September        

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Paul Thompson    pstliquidambar_styracifl

September?        

Crushed leaves have a pungent odor. — Clemson Extension

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm0411h_34

November    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

The Aztecs used the aromatic sap of sweetgums as medicine, per Teaching the Trees (Maloof, 2007).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm0411h_37

November    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

A single tree often has a mixture of green, yellow, orange, dark red, bronze, and purple leaves, per Weakley's Flora (2022).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm201113_8201

November    Greenville County    SC

Caesars Head State Park

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    s011111_n

November    Greenville County    SC

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    s011111_o

November    Greenville County    SC

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    s011117_d

November    Greenville County    SC

Star-shaped leaves are finely toothed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm081208_026

December    Greenville County    SC

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

JK Marlow    jkm081208_031

December    Greenville County    SC

image of Liquidambar styraciflua, Sweetgum

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_l_styrac_1_twigs

December    Floyd County    GA

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Altingiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Hamamelidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Liquidambar styraciflua

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 095-01-001:
Liquidambar styraciflua   FAMILY Hamamelidaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Liquidambar styraciflua

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

848

Tree
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: swamp forests, floodplains, moist forests, depressional wetlands, pond and lake margins, old fields, disturbed areas, nearly ubiquitous in the modern southeastern United States landscape, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in Mountains)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Radially symmetrical
Petals absent
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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