American sweetgum

American sweetgum
American sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua )
Systematics
Eudicotyledons Nuclear eudicotyledons Order : Saxifragales (Saxifragales) Family : Altingiaceae Genre : Sweetgum trees ( Liquidambar ) Type : American sweetgum
Scientific name
Liquidambar styraciflua
L.

Liquidambar styraciflua fruit dressings

The American sweetgum tree ( Liquidambar styraciflua ), also called starfish tree, is a deciduous tree from the genus of sweetgum trees ( Liquidambar ); this is in the small family of Altingiaceae within the order of the saxifrage-like classified (Saxifragales). Often the genus Liquidambar is less differentiated from the Hamamelidaceae family ( witch hazel family ).

distribution

The American sweetgum tree is common in alluvial forests in North America . The American sweetgum habitat stretches from New York to Nicaragua . There the sweetgum tree is also heavily used for forestry . The starfish tree has been planted as an ornamental tree in Europe since 1688 . There are some forms of culture.

description

The American sweetgum is a deciduous tree that reaches heights of up to 45 meters (in Central Europe 10 to 20 meters) and has a conical to cylindrical growth. The bark is initially red-brown and slightly cracked to scaly, later gray-brown and more or less furrowed; cork strips form on older wood . The twigs and branches on younger plants sometimes develop corky and winged growths.

The simple foliage is maple- like, hand-shaped split and five- to seven-lobed, about 10 to 20 centimeters long and almost as wide. The leaf lobes sometimes have larger teeth or smaller lobes. The mostly bare leaves are serrated and long-stalked. If you grind the leaves, they give off a pleasant, sweet scent. The American sweetgum is known for its brightly colored, first yellow and then orange to red autumn colors . The stipules are sloping.

Liquidambar styraciflua is monoecious mixed sex monoecious . The flowers are thus unisexual and also without a flower cover. They stand together in unisexual inflorescences. The greenish male flowers, with one or more hairy bracts and some, spherically arranged stamens, stand in upright racemose- like inflorescences and fall off after anthesis. The yellow-green female flowers, often with a few staminodes, are in stalked heads with small, sloping bracts . The two-chamber ovary is semi-subordinate with one or mostly two styles with long scars . To the upper, free part of the ovary around minimal bare nodular and fleshy structures (are Phyllome , Pappilae) formed. The puberty is 20-30 years.

The spherical, woody and prickly capsule fruit associations are 2.5–4 centimeters in size with the woody style. They hang down on long stems and the individual, multi-seeded capsules open with two lobes. The flat, winged 8-10 millimeters long seeds are winged on one side, but also unglued and sterile seeds are included. The empty fruit bandages usually stay on the tree for a long time.

The American sweetgum tree has the chromosome number 2n = 32.

use

American sweetgum veneer

If wounded, a resin ( Styrax ), which was previously used in the USA to make chewing gum , comes out of the tree - hence the common name “American Sweetgum”.

The satin wood of the sweetgum is reminiscent of walnut wood and is characterized by a persistent spicy scent. It is appreciated by cabinet makers that the branches of the tree are sought-after divining rods .

Cultivated forms

A variety of cultivars have been grown; these usually have different leaf shapes and colors. Here is a selection:

Andrew Henson Aurea : This is probably just a retail name for the Variegata variety . Aurora Burgundy Ellen festival Frosty Golden Sun Golden Treasure Gold member Gum ball Happy Daze Jennifer Carol Kia Kirsten Lane Roberts Manon

Moonbeam Moraine Naree Ocanee Pair Palo Alto parasol Pendula Penwood Rotundiloba Silver King : with white-green variegated leaves Simone Slender silhouette Stared Thea Variegata Worplesdon

photos

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  Trunk and leaves in summer

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  Trunk and leaves in summer

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  Sweet gum in August

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  Male inflorescences above and female below

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  Female inflorescence

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  Immature fruit cluster

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  Ripe fruit association

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  Foliage color in autumn, cultivated form

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  In autumn, Liquidambar styraciflua immediately stands out among other trees with its bright foliage colors, here in the Berlin Botanical Garden .

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  bark

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  Domaine Solvay - La Hulpe (Belgium)

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  Winged, fertile seeds and sterile, wingless ones

literature

• Frederick G. Meyer: Hamamelidaceae in the Flora of North America , Volume 3: Liquidambar styraciflua - online (section description).
• Liquidambar styraciflua (PDF), at World Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Web links

Commons : American sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Liquidambar styraciflua at the New York Metropolitan Flora Project, Brooklin Botanical Garden, accessed on September 26, 2019.
• Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia ).
• Liquidambar styraciflua in the endangered species red list of the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Americas Regional Workshop (Conservation & Sustainable Management of Trees, Costa Rica, November 1996), 1998. Retrieved on 12 May, 2006.
• Liquidambar styraciflua at Useful Tropical Plants.
• American Sweetgum on Yale Nature Walk, accessed September 25, 2019.
• Liquidambar styraciflua at Oregon State Univ., Accessed September 25, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ varieties at Plantentuin Esveld.
2. ↑ Brief description of the species and some varieties at Website of Arthur Lee Jacobson.