| Liquidambar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Altingiaceae |
| Genus: | Liquidambar L. |
| Type species | |
| Liquidambar styraciflua L. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Liquidambar, commonly calledsweetgum[2] (star gum in the UK),[3]gum,[2]redgum,[2]satin-walnut,[2]styrax orAmerican storax,[2] is the only genus in theflowering plant familyAltingiaceae and has 15 species.[1] They were formerly often treated as a part of theHamamelidaceae. They are native to southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and North America. They are decorativedeciduous trees that are used in the wood industry and for ornamental purposes.
Both the scientific and common names refer to the sweetresinoussap (liquidamber) exuded by the trunk when cut.
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Liquidambar acalycina | Chang's sweet gum | central & southernChina |
| Liquidambar cambodiana | Sdey | Cambodia | |
| Liquidambar caudata | Fujian andZhejiang,China | ||
_Altingia_chinensis_-%25E9%25A6%2599%25E6%25B8%25AF%25E5%259F%258E%25E9%2596%2580%25E9%2583%258A%25E9%2587%258E%25E5%2585%25AC%25E5%259C%2592_Shing_Mun_Country_Park%2c_Hong_Kong-_(9219891159).jpg) | Liquidambar chinensis [ceb;sv;war] | south China toVietnam | |
| Liquidambar chingii | south China to Vietnam | ||
 | Liquidambar excelsa | Rasamala [id] | Indonesia toTibet |
_(21652161393).jpg) | Liquidambar formosana | Chinese sweet gum | Vietnam,Laos, China,Taiwan andKorea |
 | Liquidambar gracilipes [ceb;sv;war] | southeast China | |
| Liquidambar multinervis [ceb;sv;war] | northGuizhou, China | ||
| Liquidambar obovata [ceb;sv;war] | Hainan, China | ||
 | Liquidambar orientalis | Oriental sweetgum | southwestTurkey andRhodes,Greece |
| Liquidambar poilanei [ceb;sv;war] | Vietnam | ||
| Liquidambar siamensis [ceb;nl;sv;war] | Southeast Asia to China | ||
.jpg) | Liquidambar styraciflua | American sweetgum | easternNorth America fromConnecticut, USA, toNicaragua |
 | Liquidambar yunnanensis [ceb;sv;war] | southeastYunnan, China to Vietnam |
| Stereo image | |||
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| Seed pods fromLiquidambar tree | |||
They are all large,deciduous trees, 25–40 m (82–131 ft) tall, withpalmately 3- to 7-lobedleaves arranged spirally on the stems and length of 12.5 to 20 centimetres (4.9 to 7.9 in), having a pleasantaroma when crushed. Their leaves can be many colors such as bright red, orange, yellow, and even purple.[4] Mature bark is grayish and vertically grooved.[4] Theflowers are small, produced in a dense globularinflorescence 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, pendulous on a 3–7 centimetres (1.2–2.8 in) stem. Thefruit is a woody multiplecapsule 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) in diameter (popularly called a "gumball"), containing numerousseeds and covered in numerous prickly, woody armatures, possibly to attach to fur of animals. The woody biomass is classified ashardwood.
At higher latitudes, Liquidambars are among the last of trees to leaf out in the spring, and also among the last of trees to drop its leaves in the fall/autumn, turning multiple colors. Fall/autumn colors are most brilliant where nights are chilly, but some cultivars color well in warm climates.
Species within this genus are native to Southeast and east Asia, the western Mediterranean, and eastern North America.[1] Countries and regions in which they occur are: Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara,Java,Sumatra); Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); Thailand;Cambodia; Vietnam; China (includingTibet,Fujian,Guizhou,Hainan,Yunnan,Zhejiang), Taiwan, South Korea,Laos,Myanmar, Bhutan, Turkey, Greece (Rhodes), Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and the eastern United States (from Texas to Connecticut). It is regarded as an artificially introduced species in India, Italy, Spain, and Belgium.[1] In cultivation, they can be seen in warm temperate and subtropical climates around the world.
This genus is known in the fossil record from theCretaceous to theQuaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).[5] The genus was much more widespread in theTertiary, but has disappeared fromEurope due to extensiveglaciation in the north and the east–west orientedAlps andPyrenees, which have served as a blockade against southward migration. It has also disappeared from westernNorth America due to climate change, and also from the unglaciated (but nowadays too cold)Russian Far East. There are severalfossil species ofLiquidambar, showing itsrelict status today.
The wood is used for furniture, interior finish, paper pulp, veneers and baskets of all kinds. The heartwood once was used in furniture, sometimes as imitationmahogany orCircassian walnut. It is used widely today in flake andstrand boards. Sweetgum is a foodplant for variouscaterpillars. The American sweetgum is widely planted as an ornamental, within its natural range and elsewhere.
The hardened sap, or gum resin, excreted from the wounds of the sweetgum, for example, the American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), can be chewed on like chewing gum and has been long used for this purpose in theSouthern United States.[4] The sap was also believed to be a cure forsciatica, weakness of nerves, etc.
InTraditional Chinese medicine,lu lu tong, or "all roads open," is the hard, spiky fruit of native sweetgum species. It first appeared in Chinese medical literature inOmissions from the Materia Medica, by Chen Cangqi, in 720 AD. Bitter in taste, aromatic, and neutral in temperature,lu lu tong is claimed to promote the movement of blood andqi, water metabolism and urination, expels wind, and unblocks the channels. It is supposedly an ingredient in formulas for epigastric distention or abdominal pain, anemia, irregular or scanty menstruation, low back or knee pain and stiffness, edema with difficult urination, or nasal congestion.[6]
In the fall/autumn, the trees drop their hard, spiky seedpods by the hundreds, which can become a serious nuisance on pavements and lawns. Some US cities have expedited permits to remove sweetgum trees.[7]
In Louisiana folklore, a sharpened stick from this tree can be used to wound a cryptid known as theParlangua (a hybrid of man and alligator).[8]
Media related toLiquidambar at Wikimedia Commons
Data related toLiquidambar at Wikispecies
