Plant Index


 
 
 
 

Liquidambar styraciflua

Liquidambar styraciflua L.

sweet gum, red gum, sweetgum

Cultivar(s): Oconee, Rotundiloba, Silver King, Slender Silhouette
Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweet Gum)
Image ID: 15384
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: LIST2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Liquidambar styraciflua
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-11-30

CULTIVAR INDEX

Cult_id Cultivar_name Action
628 Oconee View
219 Rotundiloba View
629 Silver King View
630 Slender Silhouette View

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: LIQUI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Liquidambar
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Sweetgum
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 15 species, trees, north temperate, of e. North America, Central America (Mexico to Nicaragua), e. Asia (s. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia), and e. Mediterranean (Turkey, Rhodos, Cyprus). The circumscription of Liquidambar here follows Ickert-Bond & Wen (2013) in including Altingia and Semiliquidambar.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Endress in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Li & Donoghue (1999).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ALTING
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Altingiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1846
FAMILY COMMON: Sweet-gum Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A monogeneric family of 1 genus and about 15 species, trees, of e. Asia, Indomalaysia, e. North America, Central America, and e. Mediterranean.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Ickert-Bond & Wen (2013); Endress in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Hoot, Magall�n, and Crane (1999).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS: Pith continuous. Young twigs (1-year-old or less) brown or gray or green or orange or reddish-brown, glabrate or pubescent. Twigs (2–4 years old) glabrous, winged or without special surface features. Leaf scars crescent-shaped or half-round or triangular, bundle scars 3 per leaf scar, stipule scars inconspicuous, stipule scars not circumferential. Bark of mature trunks furrowed or ridged. Buds axillary or collateral or terminal, brown or orange or reddish-brown, 6–12 mm long, conic or ovoid, sharp, glabrous or pubescent, ciliate, bud scales imbricate.
LEAVES: Leaves deciduous, simple, petiolate, alternate, 7.5–19(–25) cm long, 4.4–18 cm wide, orbiculate or reniform, leaf margins serrate or serrulate, deeply lobed, palmately lobed, leaf lobes (3–)5–7 per leaf, leaf apices acuminate or acute or rounded, leaf bases cordate or truncate. Leaf upper surface green, glabrous or glabrate. Leaf lower surface green, glabrate or with tufts in vein axils. Leaf venation palmate. Petioles (4.4–)6–10(–16) cm long, glabrous or glabrate. Stipules present, 3–13 mm long, caducous, blade-like, not circumferential.
INFLORESCENCE: Inflorescences terminal, heads or racemes, flowers sessile or stalked.
FLOWERS: Flowers unisexual or pistillate or staminate, perigynous. Perianth. Calyx radially symmetric, synsepalous. Sepals 4 per flower. Corolla absent. Androecium. Stamens 4–8(–10) per flower, separate, filaments 1 mm long, staminodes present. Gynoecium. Ovaries half-inferior, pistils 1 per flower. Gynoecium syncarpous, 2 carpels per flower, styles 2 per pistil, styles 4–8 mm long, stigmas 4–8 mm long, placentation axile. Other floral features. Hypanthia present.
FRUITS: Fruits aggregate fruits or capsules, 2.5–4 cm long, brown, fruit maturation 1 years.
COMMENTS: Leaves star-shaped; fruit a globose head of beaked capsules that often persists on the tree through the winter.
HEIGHT: (10–)15–35(–45) m tall.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Tree

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Deciduous

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: February or March or April or May.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
x x x x x

BLOOM COLOR:
White Red Pink Orange Yellow Green Blue Lavender Purple Violet Brown Not Applicable
x x

FRUITING PERIOD: Aug-Sep.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Dry forests, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States & Guatemala

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id Project Collection date Collector Action
515 SOS 2015-10-03 Dakar View
522 SOS 2015-10-06 Heraty View
632 SOS 2015-11-11 Faucette View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id acc_num acc_dt coll_id Action
919 1985-0604 View
920 1985-0605 View
1331 1986-1106 View
1967 1986-1758 View
2763 1987-0257 View
3766 1991-0461 View
4504 1992-0660 View
4728 1992-0907 View
5029 1995-0148 View
5149 1995-0268 View
5661 1995-0785 View
6171 1995-1303 View
7785 2001-0141 2001-07-05 View
8376 2005-0152 2005-04-12 View
8377 2005-0153 2005-04-12 View
8378 2005-0154 2005-04-12 View
8387 2005-0163 2005-04-12 View
8570 2006-0149 2006-08-11 View
8584 2006-0163 2006-08-11 View
8596 2006-0175 2006-08-11 View
8601 2006-0180 2006-08-11 View
8602 2006-0181 2006-08-11 View
8768 2007-0037 2007-03-14 View
8783 2007-0053 2007-03-14 View
8787 2007-0057 2007-03-14 View
8791 2007-0061 2007-03-14 View
8807 2007-0077 2007-03-13 View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num acc_id loc_num pers_num inst_dt Action
1689 919 157 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1690 919 130 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1691 919 133 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1692 919 155 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1693 919 158 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1694 919 159 Liloia 1899-11-30 View
1695 919 164 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1696 919 169 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1697 919 170 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
1698 920 172 NCBG staff 1942-01-01 View
1699 920 173 NCBG staff 1942-01-01 View
2313 1331 81 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
3142 1967 74 NCBG staff 1967-12-31 View
3143 1967 77 NCBG staff 1967-12-31 View
3144 1967 6 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3145 1967 54 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3146 1967 57 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3147 1967 76 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3148 1967 78 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3149 1967 79 NCBG staff 1986-12-22 View
3150 1967 241 NCBG staff 2001-06-12 View
3151 1967 1 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
4593 2763 8 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
4594 2763 8 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
6073 3766 52 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
6074 3766 199 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
6832 4504 200 NCBG staff 1993-03-01 View
7057 4728 200 NCBG staff 1993-03-01 View
7448 5029 202 NCBG staff 1992-01-01 View
7575 5149 203 NCBG staff 1992-01-01 View
8175 5661 204 NCBG staff 1993-01-01 View
8826 6171 2 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
10989 7785 138 NCBG staff 1999-06-01 View
11760 8570 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
11774 8584 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
11786 8596 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
11791 8601 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
11792 8602 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
12015 8768 65 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
12035 8783 71 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
12039 8787 66 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
12043 8791 68 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
12065 8807 70 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View
13015 0 15 Liloia 0000-00-00 View
13057 0 25 Liloia 0000-00-00 View
13247 0 105 Wait 0000-00-00 View
13420 0 205 NCBG staff 0000-00-00 View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: LIST2
USDA Common Name: Sweetgum
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CA, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Tree

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:AGCPAKAWCBEMPGPHIMWNCNEWMVE
Status: FAC FAC FAC FAC FACW FAC FAC

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Liquidambar styraciflua
COMMON NAME: Sweet Gum, Red Gum
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, GW, K, Mo, Pa, RAB, S, Va, W, WH3, WV]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-May; Aug-Sep.
HABITAT: Swamp forests, floodplains, moist forests, depressional wetlands, old fields, disturbed areas.
COMMENTS: CT west to s. OH, s. IL and OK, south to s. FL, TX, and Guatemala. One of the most spectacular of our trees in the fall; a single tree often has a mixture of green, yellow, orange, dark red, bronze, and purple leaves. The sap was previously gathered as a source of chewing gum. The bark is one of the favorite foods of beavers. Although sometimes thought of as a small and weedy tree, Liquidambar reaches its greatest abundance and size in Coastal Plain swamp forests, where it can reach 2 meters in diameter. Along with such species as Pinus taeda, Quercus phellos, and others, Liquidambar is a good example of a primarily bottomland tree which has proven to be an excellent colonizer of disturbed uplands.
RANGE MAP: Liquidambar styraciflua.png

Key to Map Symbols
ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Altingiaceae Lindley 1846 (Sweet-gum Family)
SUMMARY: A monogeneric family of 1 genus and about 15 species, trees, of e. Asia, Indomalaysia, e. North America, Central America, and e. Mediterranean.
REFERENCE: Ickert-Bond & Wen (2013); Endress in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Hoot, Magall�n, and Crane (1999).
ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Liquidambar L. (Sweetgum)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 15 species, trees, north temperate, of e. North America, Central America (Mexico to Nicaragua), e. Asia (s. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia), and e. Mediterranean (Turkey, Rhodos, Cyprus). The circumscription of Liquidambar here follows Ickert-Bond & Wen (2013) in including Altingia and Semiliquidambar.
REFERENCE: Endress in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Li & Donoghue (1999).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Liquidambar styraciflua in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Liquidambar styraciflua in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Liquidambar styraciflua in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Liquidambar styraciflua in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Liquidambar styraciflua in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Liquidambar styraciflua

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 15384 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 15384 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 15382 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 5171 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)

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