Liquidambar

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Saxifragales

Familia: Altingiaceae
Genus: Liquidambar
Species: L. acalycina – L. cambodiana – L. caudata – L. chinensis – L. chingii – L. excelsa – L. formosana – L. gracilipes – L. multinervis – L. obovata – L. orientalis – L. poilanei – L. siamensis – L. styraciflua – L. tuberculata – L. yunnanensis

Source(s) of checklist:

Hassler, M. 2020. Liquidambar. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Oct. 3. Reference page.

Name

Liquidambar L., Sp. Pl. 2: 999 (1753).

Type species: Liquidambar styraciflua L., Sp. Pl. 2: 999 (1753).

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Altingia Noronha, Verh. Batav. Genootsch. Kunsten 5: 1 (1785).
Cathayambar (Harms) Nakai, in Ord., Fam., etc.: 246 (1943).
Sedgwickia Griff., Asiat. Res. 19: 98 (1836).
Semiliquidambar H.T.Chang, Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 1962: 40 (1962).

References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 999. Reference page.

Additional references

Ickert-Bond, S.M. & Wen, J. 2013. A taxonomic synopsis of Altingiaceae with nine new combinations. PhytoKeys 31: 21–61. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.31.6251 Open access Reference page.
Pigg, K.B., Ickert-Bond, S.M. & Wen, J. 2004. Anatomically preserved Liquidambar (Altingiaceae) from the middle Miocene of Yakima Canyon, Washington state, USA, and its biogeographic implications. American Journal of Botany 91(3): 499-509.

Links

Hassler, M. 2020. Liquidambar. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 November 1. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Liquidambar in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 November 1. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Liquidambar. Published online. Accessed: 1 November 2020.
Tropicos.org 2018. Liquidambar. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 16 Jul. 2018.

Vernacular names
dansk: Ambratræ
Deutsch: Amberbäume
English: Sweet Gums
suomi: Ambrapuut
français: Liquidambar
հայերեն: Արուսենի
Türkçe: Sığla ağacı, Amber ağacı, Günlük ağacı, Sığala ağacı
中文: 枫香树属 — 中文

Liquidambar, commonly called sweetgum[2] (star gum in the UK),[3] gum,[2] redgum,[2] satin-walnut,[2] or American storax,[2] is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species.[1] They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae. They are native to Southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and eastern North America. They are decorative deciduous trees that are used in the wood industry and for ornamental purposes.

Etymology

Both the scientific and common names refer to the sweet resinous sap (liquid amber) exuded by the trunk when cut.
Species
Extant species
Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Liquidambar acalycina (2).jpg Liquidambar acalycina Chang's sweetgum central & southern China
Liquidambar cambodiana Sdey Cambodia
Liquidambar caudata Fujian and Zhejiang, China
蕈樹(山荔枝) Altingia chinensis -香港城門郊野公園 Shing Mun Country Park, Hong Kong- (9219891159).jpg Liquidambar chinensis south China to Vietnam
Liquidambar chingii south China to Vietnam
Sedgwickia cerasifolia Griffith 1836.jpg Liquidambar excelsa , Indonesia to Tibet
Chinese Sweet Gum (Liquidambar formosana) (21652161393).jpg Liquidambar formosana Chinese sweetgum or Formosan sweetgum Vietnam, Laos, China, Taiwan and Korea
Altingia gracilipes 29-2837.jpg Liquidambar gracilipes southeast China
Liquidambar multinervis north Guizhou, China
Liquidambar obovata Hainan, China
Leaves of Liquidambar orientalis 1.jpg Liquidambar orientalis Oriental sweetgum or Turkish sweetgum southwest Turkey and Rhodes, Greece
Liquidambar poilanei Vietnam
Liquidambar siamensis Southeast Asia to China
Liquidambar styraciflua (12027673696).jpg Liquidambar styraciflua American sweetgum eastern North America from Connecticut, USA, to Nicaragua
Altingia yunnanensis - Kunming Botanical Garden - DSC03172.JPG Liquidambar yunnanensis southeast Yunnan, China to Vietnam
Fossils

†Liquidambar changii - Miocene (Washington state, North America)

Description
Stereo image
Left frame
Right frame
Liquidambaseedpod.JPG
Parallel view (Stereogram guide parallel.png)
Cross-eye view (Stereogram guide cross-eyed.png)
Seed pods from Liquidambar tree.

They are all large, deciduous trees, 25–40 metres (82–131 ft) tall, with palmately 3- to 7-lobed leaves arranged spirally on the stems and length of 12.5 to 20 centimetres (4.9 to 7.9 in), having a pleasant aroma 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] The flowers are small, produced in a dense globular inflorescence 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, pendulous on a 3–7 centimetres (1.2–2.8 in) stem. The fruit is a woody multiple capsule 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) in diameter (popularly called a "gumball"), containing numerous seeds and covered in numerous prickly, woody armatures, possibly to attach to fur of animals. The woody biomass is classified as hardwood.
L. styraciflua fruits on stem with seeds to the side

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.
Distribution

Species within this genus are native to Southeast and east Asia, western Mediterranean and eastern North America.[1] Countries and regions in which they occur are:, Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara, Jawa, Sumatera); Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); Thailand; Cambodia; Vietnam; China (including Fujian, Guizhou, Hainan, Yunnan, Zhejiang}; Taiwan; Korea; Laos; Myanmar; India (including Assam); East Himalaya; Tibet; Turkey; Greece (Rodes); Nicaragua; Honduras; El Salvador; Guatemala; Belize; Mexico; and eastern USA (from Texas to Connecticut). It is regarded as introduced/naturalised in Italy, Spain, Belgium and New York, USA.[1] In cultivation they can be seen in warm temperate and subtropical climates around the world.
Fossil records
Fossil leaf of Liquidambar from Pliocene of Italy

This genus is known in the fossil record from the Cretaceous to the Quaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).[5] The genus was much more widespread in the Tertiary, but has disappeared from Europe due to extensive glaciation in the north and the east–west oriented Alps and Pyrenees, which have served as a blockade against southward migration. It has also disappeared from western North America due to climate change, and also from the unglaciated (but nowadays too cold) Russian Far East. There are several fossil species of Liquidambar, showing its relict status today.
Uses

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 mahogany or Circassian walnut. It is used widely today in flake and strand boards. Sweetgum is a foodplant for various Lepidoptera caterpillars, such as the gypsy moth. 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 the Southern United States.[4] The sap was also believed to be a cure for sciatica, weakness of nerves, etc.

In Chinese herbal medicine, lu lu tong, or "all roads open," is the hard, spiky fruit of native sweetgum species. It first appeared in the medical literature in Omissions 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 and qi, 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 liquidambar trees.[7]

References

"Liquidambar L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
"USDA GRIN Taxonomy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
Peterson, Lee Allen (1977). Edible Wild Plants. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 214–215. ISBN 0-395-31870-X.
Fossilworks
Bensky, Clavey & Stöger 2004.

"Sunnyvale, CA - Tree Removal". sunnyvale.ca.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-25.

Bensky, D; Clavey; Stöger, Erich (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Eastland Press. ISBN 978-0-939616-42-8.
Fergus, Charles (2002). Trees of Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Stackpole Books. pp. 160–162. ISBN 978-0-8117-2092-2.
Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Dev., 1985, 24 (3), pp 836–844
Hsu, E.; Andrews, S. (2005). "Tree of the year: Liquidambar" (PDF). International Dendrology Society Yearbook. 2004: 11–45. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-22. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
Svenning, Jens-Christian (July 2003). "Deterministic Plio-Pleistocene extinctions in the European cool-temperate tree flora". Ecology Letters. 6 (7): 646–653. doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00477.x.