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American Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
Distinguishing Features: Spiny seed balls that last into winter
- Type: Deciduous
- Form at maturity: Typically 60 feet to 80 feet tall and 40 feet to 60 feet wide and can easily exceed 100 feet, Pyramidal when young, oblong to rounded when mature.
- Leaf: Alternate "maple-like" star shaped leaves, leaves are 5 to 7, lobed, 4 inches to 8 inches long and wide, margins serrate, dark to medium glossy green colour, orange, red, burgundy, and purplish in Autumn
- Flower: Monoecious, yellowish-green flowers appear in spherical clusters
- Bark: Grayish brown, deeply furrowed with narrow ridges, stem bark is reddish or yellowish brown and shiny, some trees develop corky ridges on 2 year old stems
- Fruit or Seed: Long-stemmed, woody and bur-like spiny balls, 1 inch to 1.5 inches in diameter, change from green to brown
- Other:
Liquidambar styraciflua leaf
Liquidambar styraciflua fruit
