Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

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The sweetgum is also known as redgum, star-leaved gum, alligator-wood, and gumtree. It occurs on moist to wet, acidic soils and is commonly found in swamps and near ponds and streams.

Sweetgum is second in production only to oaks among hardwoods. The wood is used as flooring, furniture, veneers, home interiors, and other lumber applications. The wood is also used as paper pulp and to make baskets. Pioneers once peeled the bark and scraped the resin-like solid to produce chewing gum.

Sweetgum is a favorite landscape tree due to its


Twigs and leaves
beautiful, glossy leaves, brilliant fall color, and because it makes a good shade tree. Sweetgum is easily recognized by its star-shaped leaves and its woody, spiny, ball-like fruit.

This member of the Hamamelidaceae family is found from the southwestern part of Connecticut to central Florida, west to Texas and north to Southern Illinois.

Identifying Characteristics

Size/Form:

Sweetgum is a large tree that reaches 80' to 150' in height. It is characterized as having a buttressed base with a pyramidal or oval-shaped crown.

Leaves:

The deciduous leaves are alternately arranged and star-shaped with 5 to 7 deeply palmate, pointed lobes. Each leaf is a shiny dark green above and paler below with small hairs. The leaves are unpleasantly aromatic if crushed or bruised. In autumn, the leaves turn red, orange, yellow, and purple.

Fruit:

The persistent fruit is a woody head of two-celled capsules. Each capsule contains two tiny, black seeds. When they fall, they become the spiny balls that clutter lawns. The fruits mature in autumn and persist on the tree throughout winter.

Bark:

The bark on the sweetgum tree is gray and deeply furrowed, separated by narrow scaly ridges. After the second year the twigs often develop two to four corky projections of the bark, which give them a winged appearance.

Habitat:

Sweetgum grows in moist soils of valleys and lower sloped areas. This tree may also be found in mixed woodlands. Sweetgum is a pioneer species, often found after an area has been logged or clearcut.

Contact Information

Email: LVK@ifas.ufl.edu

Acknowledgements: The development of this site was funded by the Florida 4-H Foundation and the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida.