Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Native Plants < Native Plant Database < Asclepias incarnata

SWEETGUM

Liquidambar styraciflua

Family:

Description: Large tree with small oblong or pyramidal crown and shallow wide-spreading root system.  Leaves palmately lobed, star-shaped with toothed margins, alternate along aromatic twigs with or without corky wings, and  change from bright green to shades of gold, red, pink, and purple in fall.  Both male and female flowers small and greenish emerging prior to foliage, males occurring in upright clusters, females in spherical clusters.  Prickly woody seed capsules (gumballs) persist into winter and fall after releasing small winged seeds.  Bark grayish brown; deeply furrowed into narrow, somewhat rounded, flaky ridges.

Size:

Habit:

Growth Rate:

Light:

Planting and Care: Tolerates some shade and crowding; however, grows quickly preferring deep, moist, acidic soil and full sun spaced 75 feet apart for root development.  Gumballs can be a major litter problem; therefore, best to allow adequate room for mulch bed around tree rather than trying to grow grass.  Prune during the winter. 

Ornamental Value:

Landscape Usage:

Wildlife Benefits: White-tailed deer browse foliage lightly to moderately during winter in Oconee National Forest of Georgia.  Seeds, high in protein and caloric content, provide valuable food source for many species of birds such as Cardinals, Chickadee, Goldfinch, Purple finch, Junco, Mourning dove, Towhee, White-throated sparrow, and mammals such as Gray Squirrels, and Chipmunks.  This tree is also used to provide cover and breeding sites to a variety of birds, and other mammals.  Larval host plant for Hickory Horned Devil (Royal Walnut Moth), and Luna Moth.

Native Habitat: Most commonly found in moist or wet woods along ravines, floodplains, and stream banks; however, also found in upland areas of disturbed sites such as old fields.  Native.  Stretches from Connecticut, southward throughout East to central Florida and eastern Texas.

Propagation: Collect seeds in early fall, before gumballs open and release them to the wind.  Tiny seeds germinate readily if stratified and surface-sown in spring.  Seeds can be stratified either  for 90 days kept cold and moist or 105 days in sand at 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Seedling to shade can take as little as five years.  Tricky to transplant because of its coarse root system, but root-pruned or container-grown trees establish quickly.  Stem cuttings have been successfully planted along stream banks.