Sweet Gum
Liquidambar styraciflua
Also known as: American Sweetgum
Glossy five-pointed star-shaped leaves turn extraordinary mixed red-purple-orange-yellow in fall, often on a single tree. Spiny "gumball" fruits drop in quantity — a nuisance on lawns and walks.
- Family
- Altingiaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 60–80 ft
- Spacing
- 40–60 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- white, green
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, pollinators
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~35 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, rain garden
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV