ALTINGIACEAE - - Sweet-gum Family

Liquidambar styraciflua Linnaeus — Sweet Gum

Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) - Tree becoming 45 m. tall; leaf-blades 5-lobed, the lobes triangular or lanceolate; fruiting heads 3—4 cm. in diameter, persistent; fertile seeds about 1 cm. long. The foliage is brilliant in fall, with colors ranging from yellow, red and dark purple! The leaf-blades are sometimes 7-lobed.

Habitat:

Swamp forests, floodplains, moist forests, depressional wetlands, old fields, disturbed areas. 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.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweet Gum)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweet Gum)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.