American Sweetgum
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American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), also known as Redgum or Liquid Amber, is a deciduous tree in the sweetgum genus native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America. It occurs in the United States from southern New York west to southern Missouri and east Texas and south to central Florida, and in Mexico from southern Nuevo León south to Chiapas, as well as in Guatemala. In the United States it occurs at low to moderate altitudes, while in Mexico and Guatemala it grows at high altitudes in mountains where the climate is more temperate.
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American Sweetgum has been introduced to many parts of the world, including Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Uruguay and Zimbabwe. It is commonly cultivated in cities of western British Columbia such as Victoria and Vancouver. Further east, it grows as a root-hardy shrub in Ottawa and Montreal.
The leaves are palmately lobed, 8-17 cm long and 7-15 cm broad, looking somewhat similar to those of some maples. They have five sharply-pointed lobes, but are easily told from maples in being arranged alternately, not in opposite pairs. They are a rich dark green and glossy, and turning brilliant orange, red and purple colors in the autumn.
The male and female inflorescences are on different branches of the same tree. The fruit, popularly nick-named a "gumball", is a hard, dry, globose, compound fruit 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter and composed of numerous (20-50) capsules. Each capsule has a terminal spike and contains two small seeds.
This species is nearly allied to L. oriehtalis, a native of a very restricted portion of the south-west coast of Asia Minor, where it forms forests. The earliest record of the tree appears to be in a Spanish work by F. Hernandez, published in 1651, in which he describes it as a large tree producing a fragrant gum resembling liquid amber, whence the name. In Ray's Historia Plantarum (1686) it is called Slyrax liquida. It was introduced into Europe in 1681 by John Banister, the missionary collector sent out by Bishop Compton, who planted it in the palace gardens at Fulham. The wood is very compact and fine-grained, the heartwood being reddish, and, when cut into planks, marked transversely with blackish belts. It is employed for veneering in America. Being readily dyed black, it is sometimes used instead of ebony for picture frames, balusters, and other things, but it is too liable to decay for outdoor work.
Numerous cultivars of American Sweetgum have been selected, with 'Burgundy', 'Palo Alto', 'Moraine', 'Rotundiloba' and 'Worplesdon' among the most common.
Uses
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The wood is used for pulpwood, but is poor for timber or fuel. It is a popular landscape tree, giving attractive color in the fall, but it also has some drawbacks. The wood is brittle and the tree drops branches easily in storms. The spiked "gumballs" are somewhat unpleasant to walk on, and their profusion can smother a lawn unless removed.
The gum resin yielded by this tree has no special medicinal virtues, being inferior in therapeutic properties to many others of its class. Mixed with tobacco, the gum was once used for smoking at the court of the Mexican emperors. It was long used in France as a perfume for gloves and other such items. It is mainly produced in Mexico, little being obtained from trees growing in higher latitudes of North America, or in England.