1. Guides
  2. Trees and Shrubs of South Mountain Reservation
  3. American Sweetgum

American Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua

Summary 6

American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves (similar to maple leaves) and its hard, spiked fruits.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Tony Alter, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/78428166@N00/15544735086/
  2. (c) António Pena, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/anpena/37966896704/
  3. (c) Arb O'Retum, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/123413440@N05/49902782966/
  4. (c) Jessica Lucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/theloushe/5034901506/
  5. (c) Bruce Kirchoff, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/brucekirchoff/22977390071/
  6. Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidambar_styraciflua

More Info

iNat Map

Member of the iNaturalist Network   |   Powered by iNaturalist open source software |   Documentation for developers