Sweet gum
Liquidambar styraciflua L.
Also known as: Liquidambar, American sweetgum
Family: Altingiaceae
15 to 25 m tall
Planted as a specimen or in avenues, deep cool soils
Flowering: April – May, inconspicuous
Full sun
Hardy, to about -20°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Although its leaves look very like those of a maple, sweet gum is not related to that genus — the most reliable difference is the alternate arrangement of its leaves, versus opposite in maples.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, palmate with 5-7 pointed lobes, resembling those of maple, turning red, orange and purple in autumn
🌸 Flowers
Small, greenish, grouped in small pendent balls
🍎 Fruits
Spiny spherical capsule persisting all winter on the tree
🪵 Bark
Grey-brown bark becoming deeply fissured with age; young twigs sometimes corky.
🗺️ Distribution
Native to the south-eastern United States; widely planted in France as an ornamental tree
🐝 Value for pollinators
Inconspicuous flowering, little direct interest for pollinators
✂️ Horticultural uses
Major ornamental tree planted for its spectacular multicoloured autumn colour, often mistaken for a maple
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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