Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Liquidambar
open-in-new
<h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2> <p>Both the scientific and common names refer to the sweet <a href="/facts/Resin/r1uVThQ8">resinous</a> <a href="/facts/Plant_sap/cxdgQYP8">sap</a> (<i>liquid <a href="/facts/Amber/GHP6h5gx">amber</a></i>) exuded by the trunk when cut. </p> <h2 id="species">Species</h2> <h3>Extant species</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th>Image</th><th>Scientific name</th><th>Common Name</th><th>Distribution</th></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_acalycina/PwHz4HwG">Liquidambar acalycina</a></i></td><td>Chang's sweet gum</td><td>central & southern <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_cambodiana/3wqCTej1">Liquidambar cambodiana</a></i></td><td>Sdey</td><td><a href="/facts/Cambodia/t1wJd6GU">Cambodia</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar caudata</i></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Fujian/Knjv0XCG">Fujian</a> and <a href="/facts/Zhejiang/TQtpFHdJ">Zhejiang</a>, <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar chinensis [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>south China to <a href="/facts/Vietnam/0ulfA8Eq">Vietnam</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_chingii/pa88g5t4">Liquidambar chingii</a></i></td><td></td><td>south China to Vietnam</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_excelsa/gYypfXrF">Liquidambar excelsa</a></i></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Rasamala/gYypfXrF">Rasamala</a> [id]</i></td><td><a href="/facts/Indonesia/vQnWU3IW">Indonesia</a> to <a href="/facts/Tibet/NQChzGo9">Tibet</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_formosana/wmfN8aVk">Liquidambar formosana</a></i></td><td>Chinese sweet gum</td><td>Vietnam, <a href="/facts/Laos/S0afugjX">Laos</a>, China, <a href="/facts/Taiwan/VcJoUD8w">Taiwan</a> and <a href="/facts/Korea/cj2kDBzc">Korea</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar gracilipes [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>southeast China</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar multinervis [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>north <a href="/facts/Guizhou/BWxNrucU">Guizhou</a>, China</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar obovata [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Hainan/wUWoHo1V">Hainan</a>, China</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_orientalis/gzv8rMAP">Liquidambar orientalis</a></i></td><td>Oriental sweetgum</td><td>southwest <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a> and <a href="/facts/Rhodes/07LazWIX">Rhodes</a>, <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar poilanei [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>Vietnam</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar siamensis [ceb; nl; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>Southeast Asia to China</td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_styraciflua/vLfcbxd9">Liquidambar styraciflua</a></i></td><td>American sweetgum</td><td>eastern <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> from <a href="/facts/Connecticut/LeDhYdJG">Connecticut</a>, USA, to <a href="/facts/Nicaragua/PsyPGXxm">Nicaragua</a></td></tr><tr><td></td><td><i>Liquidambar yunnanensis [ceb; sv; war]</i></td><td></td><td>southeast <a href="/facts/Yunnan/Q924cyfE">Yunnan</a>, China to Vietnam</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Fossils</h3> <ul><li>†<i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_changii/bzfLJYYn">Liquidambar changii</a></i> - Miocene (Washington state, North America)</li></ul> <h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>They are all large, <a href="/facts/Deciduous/7jQHVtdd">deciduous</a> trees, 25–40 m (82–131 ft) tall, with <a href="/facts/Leaf_shape/GfSyEn7C">palmately</a> 3- to 7-lobed <a href="/facts/Leaf/1m6wCNTg">leaves</a> arranged spirally on the stems and length of 12.5 to 20 centimetres (4.9 to 7.9 in), having a pleasant <a href="/facts/Aroma/WnCopMmH">aroma</a> when crushed. Their leaves can be many colors such as bright red, orange, yellow, and even purple.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> Mature bark is grayish and vertically grooved.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The <a href="/facts/Flower/7gI5Kefw">flowers</a> are small, produced in a dense globular <a href="/facts/Inflorescence/CvpNd4vS">inflorescence</a> 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, pendulous on a 3–7 centimetres (1.2–2.8 in) stem. The <a href="/facts/Fruit/PBpuzk60">fruit</a> is a woody multiple <a href="/facts/Capsule_(fruit)/nSgcw6KK">capsule</a> 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) in diameter (popularly called a "gumball"), containing numerous <a href="/facts/Seed/a4xGSLxJ">seeds</a> and covered in numerous prickly, woody armatures, possibly to attach to fur of animals. The woody biomass is classified as <a href="/facts/Hardwood/KQT6MN8W">hardwood</a>. </p> <p>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. </p> <h2 id="distribution">Distribution</h2> <p>Species within this genus are native to Southeast and east Asia, the western Mediterranean, and eastern North America.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> Countries and regions in which they occur are: Indonesia (<a href="/facts/Nusa_Tenggara/vDuK1jHb">Nusa Tenggara</a>, <a href="/facts/Java/2MNA2rLm">Java</a>, <a href="/facts/Sumatra/Fo192kJb">Sumatra</a>); Malaysia (<a href="/facts/Peninsular_Malaysia/88WtYx31">Peninsular Malaysia</a>); Thailand; <a href="/facts/Cambodia/t1wJd6GU">Cambodia</a>; Vietnam; China (including <a href="/facts/Tibet_Autonomous_Region/IqQyXKT8">Tibet</a>, <a href="/facts/Fujian/Knjv0XCG">Fujian</a>, <a href="/facts/Guizhou/BWxNrucU">Guizhou</a>, <a href="/facts/Hainan/wUWoHo1V">Hainan</a>, <a href="/facts/Yunnan/Q924cyfE">Yunnan</a>, <a href="/facts/Zhejiang/TQtpFHdJ">Zhejiang</a>), Taiwan, South Korea, <a href="/facts/Laos/S0afugjX">Laos</a>, <a href="/facts/Myanmar/zcqQH2oE">Myanmar</a>, Bhutan, Turkey, Greece (<a href="/facts/Rhodes/07LazWIX">Rhodes</a>), 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> In cultivation, they can be seen in warm temperate and subtropical climates around the world. </p> <h2 id="fossil-records">Fossil records</h2> <p>This genus is known in the fossil record from the <a href="/facts/Cretaceous/nwKtFtKx">Cretaceous</a> to the <a href="/facts/Quaternary/3cEgHAqc">Quaternary</a> (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> The genus was much more widespread in the <a href="/facts/Tertiary/Krcz3olj">Tertiary</a>, but has disappeared from <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> due to extensive <a href="/facts/Glaciation/alIAm38r">glaciation</a> in the north and the east–west oriented <a href="/facts/Alps/Q3zdQId4">Alps</a> and <a href="/facts/Pyrenees/YJ38kInj">Pyrenees</a>, which have served as a blockade against southward migration. It has also disappeared from western <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> due to climate change, and also from the unglaciated (but nowadays too cold) <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a>. There are several <a href="/facts/Fossil/by7NzIA1">fossil</a> species of <i>Liquidambar</i>, showing its <a href="/facts/Relict_(biology)/eH1gkAg3">relict</a> status today. </p> <h2 id="uses">Uses</h2> <p>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 imitation <a href="/facts/Mahogany/dTrTanrn">mahogany</a> or <a href="/facts/Juglans_regia/aJKt0VKp">Circassian walnut</a>. It is used widely today in flake and <a href="/facts/Oriented_strand_board/xnD9t0MF">strand boards</a>. Sweetgum is a foodplant for various <a href="/facts/Caterpillar/PMgzj7F7">caterpillars</a>. The American sweetgum is widely planted as an ornamental, within its natural range and elsewhere. </p><p>The hardened sap, or gum resin, excreted from the wounds of the sweetgum, for example, the American sweetgum (<i><a href="/facts/Liquidambar_styraciflua/vLfcbxd9">Liquidambar styraciflua</a></i>), can be chewed on like chewing gum and has been long used for this purpose in the <a href="/facts/Southern_United_States/ppnGuAtB">Southern United States</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> The sap was also believed to be a cure for <a href="/facts/Sciatica/yux9tHrW">sciatica</a>, weakness of nerves, etc. </p><p>In <a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_medicine/51rSRXua">Traditional Chinese medicine</a>, <i>lu lu tong</i>, or "all roads open," is the hard, spiky fruit of native sweetgum species. It first appeared in Chinese medical literature in <i>Omissions from the Materia Medica,</i> by Chen Cangqi, in 720 AD. Bitter in taste, aromatic, and neutral in temperature, <i>lu lu tong</i> is claimed to promote the movement of blood and <a href="/facts/Qi/cMj34xNM">qi</a>, 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p><p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p><p>In Louisiana folklore, a sharpened stick from this tree can be used to wound a cryptid known as the <i>Parlangua</i> (a hybrid of man and alligator).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li>Bensky, D; Clavey; Stöger, Erich (2004). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8gvPAAAACAAJ"><i>Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica</i></a>. Eastland Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-939616-42-8.</li> <li>Fergus, Charles (2002). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=4LKBcxNzHZAC&pg=PA160"><i>Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast</i></a>. Stackpole Books. pp. 160–162. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-8117-2092-2.</li> <li>Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Dev., 1985, 24 (3), pp 836–844</li> <li>Hsu, E.; Andrews, S. (2005). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171022021209/http://www.dendrology.org/site/images/web4events/pdf/Tree%20info%20IDS_04_pp11_45_TreeoftheYear.pdf">"Tree of the year: Liquidambar"</a> (PDF). <i>International Dendrology Society Yearbook</i>. 2004: 11–45. Archived from <a href="http://dendrology.org/site/images/web4events/pdf/Tree%20info%20IDS_04_pp11_45_TreeoftheYear.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on 2017-10-22. Retrieved 2017-10-26.</li> <li>Svenning, Jens-Christian (July 2003). "Deterministic Plio-Pleistocene extinctions in the European cool-temperate tree flora". <i>Ecology Letters</i>. 6 (7): 646–653. <a href="/facts/Bibcode_(identifier)/9HtdQSGB">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003EcolL...6..646S">2003EcolL...6..646S</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1046%2Fj.1461-0248.2003.00477.x">10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00477.x</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li> Media related to Liquidambar at Wikimedia Commons</li> <li> Data related to Liquidambar at Wikispecies</li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070607165137/http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/feature_pro.html?id=c373e90a275ac1578f6a17245d830100">"Highlights of American Chemical Society meeting in Atlanta"</a>. <i>chemistry.org</i>. American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on June 7, 2007.</li> <li><a href="http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st358">Liquidambar styraciflua: Sweetgum</a> at University of Florida IFAS Extension</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965. <a href="978-1405332965" target="_blank">978-1405332965</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120921033212/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6882</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Liquidambar L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 March 2021. <a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2" target="_blank">https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Peterson, Lee Allen (1977). Edible Wild Plants. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 214–215. ISBN 0-395-31870-X. <a href="0-395-31870-X" target="_blank">0-395-31870-X</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Peterson, Lee Allen (1977). Edible Wild Plants. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 214–215. ISBN 0-395-31870-X. <a href="0-395-31870-X" target="_blank">0-395-31870-X</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Liquidambar L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 March 2021. <a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2" target="_blank">https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Liquidambar L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 March 2021. <a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2" target="_blank">https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30008300-2</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Liquidambar Linnaeus 1753 (sweetgum)". Fossilworks.org. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2024. <a href="https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=54637" target="_blank">https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=54637</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Peterson, Lee Allen (1977). Edible Wild Plants. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 214–215. ISBN 0-395-31870-X. <a href="0-395-31870-X" target="_blank">0-395-31870-X</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Bensky, Clavey & Stöger 2004. - Bensky, D; Clavey; Stöger, Erich (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Eastland Press. ISBN 978-0-939616-42-8. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8gvPAAAACAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=8gvPAAAACAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Sunnyvale, CA - Tree Removal". sunnyvale.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-25. <a href="https://sunnyvale.ca.gov/property/trees/removal.htm" target="_blank">https://sunnyvale.ca.gov/property/trees/removal.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Half Man, Half Alligator". Discovery. Retrieved 2024-10-23. <a href="https://www.discovery.com/shows/cajun-legend-hunters/episodes/half-man-half-alligator" target="_blank">https://www.discovery.com/shows/cajun-legend-hunters/episodes/half-man-half-alligator</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>