Botanical Name: Liquidambar styraciflua
Common Name: sweet gum
Family: Altingiaceae
Distribution/Origin: North America
Leaf/Bud: alternate, palmate, 5 lobed, red in fall, fragrant when crushed, glabrous, drip tip, large terminal bud
Flower/Inflorescence: green/yellow quite inconspicuous
Fruit/Seed: spiky aggregate caspule
Stem/Bark:
Size: med - large, height 30 - 50ft
Habit: upright, primary branches horizontal
Form: pyramid in juvenility, round at maturity
Culture:
Landscape Use: tree, beware soft wood that splits and breaks easily
Notes: great fall color - late, adapts to many conditions
