Liquidambar styraciflua

PSC 2620: Woody Trees and Shrub Course Home Week 7

Liquidambar styraciflua - American Sweetgum

Plant Viewer


The leaf of the sweetgum has 5 or 7 triangular lobes and a serrated margin.	The fall color can be any number of bright colors - red or orange is most common. Image: Septhen Lea

The fruit consists of 1 1/2 inch spiny balls.	The bark has prominent vertical stripes.

Plant Description

Liquidambar styracifula, or American Sweetgum, is a large deciduous shade tree that grows quickly but is marginal in our climate. Once established the tree will do fine, but many young tree experience significant winter kill for the first few years. It has a single main leader that provides the tree with a good symmetrical form. When young the tree exhibits a pyramidal form, but matures to an upright oval form. It can reach 60 -75 feet high and about 2/3 that as wide. The bark has prominent vertical stripes of light brown and silvery gray. The pattern becomes less prominent as the bark matures, but it is still visible.

The leaf is is a beautiful star shape with 5 or 7 long triangular lobes. The leaf is 4 to 7 inches wide and long with a margin is finely serrated and. It is a dark green color on both the top and bottom of the leaf. In fall, the color is bright red, orange or even a purple color. It has some of the best fall color of any tree I have seen.

The fruit forms in the late summer and ripens in fall. They are 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and extremely spiny. They emerge a green color, but turn a deep brown and harden before winter. They persist on the tree into winter, but a good number will drop. As a child I enjoyed using these as projectiles, though I did not enjoy it as much when I was on the receiving end.

Landscape Use

Use as a shade tree or park tree. It needs ample room for root growth - so it is not suitable for use in parking strip or parking lot.

Points of Interest