Sweetgum
From Freepedia
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| Image:Fall sweetgum leaves 0197.jpg American Sweetgum leaves with November fall color in South Carolina | ||||||||||||
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Liquidambar formosana |
Sweetgums, comprising the Genus Liquidambar, are classified in the family, Altingiaceae (though formerly often treated in the Hamamelidaceae). There are four species of sweetgums, all large, deciduous trees, 25-40 m tall, with palmately lobed leaves:
- Liquidambar acalycina - Chang's Sweetgum (central & southern China)
- Liquidambar formosana - Chinese Sweetgum (central & southern China, southern Korea, Taiwan, Laos, northern Vietnam).
- Liquidambar orientalis - Oriental Sweetgum (southwest Turkey, Greece: Rhodes).
- Liquidambar styraciflua - American Sweetgum (eastern North America from New York to Texas and also eastern Mexico to Guatemala).
They are popular ornamental trees, particularly in warm-temperate areas with hot summers, being some of the most reliable trees for good autumn (fall) colours in these conditions.
The genus was much more widespread in the Tertiary, but has disappeared from Europe due to extensive glaciation in the north and the Alps, which has 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.
References and external links
- Hsu, E. & Andews, S. (2005). Tree of the year: Liquidambar. International Dendrology Society Yearbook 2004: 11-45.
- Deterministic Plio-Pleistocene extinctions in the European cool-temperate tree flora. Ecology Letters 6 (7): 646-653. July 2003.
