Sweet Gum
Liquidambar styraciflua Linnaeus
Sweet Gum: https://marylandbiodiversity.org/species/1374
Synonyms
American Sweetgum  Redgum  Sweetgum 
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2,418 Records

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Status

Sweet Gum is widely distributed, with a range from the Connecticut coast to the Guatemalan highlands. It grows mainly in bottomlands but also seeds into abandoned fields (Brown and Brown, 1972). Sweet Gum is very common on the Maryland Coastal Plain but uncommon in the Piedmont and west. It is fast growing and can become very large. It is often planted as an ornamental.

Description

Note distinctive leaf shape and seed pods. Branchlets commonly have corky ridges. Leaves often turn bright red in autumn. The seed pods (capsules) are filled mostly with abortive seeds that resemble sawdust (Fernald, 1950). Empty fruits often remain on the tree all winter.

Where To Find

A fine, ancient specimen of Sweet Gum can be seen in the old-age Shell-Marl Ravine Forest at Chapman Forest North (Chapman State Park), Charles County, Maryland. Sweet Gum is co-dominant in some of the stands there (R. Simmons, pers. comm.).

Relationships

Host plant to various moth species including Large Paectes Moth, Pygmy Paectes Moth, Imperial Moth, Luna Moth, Io Moth, Promethea Moth, Regal Moth, Cecropia Moth, Fall Webworm Moth, Banded Tussock Moth, Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth, Harris's Three-spotted Moth, and American Plum Borer (Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants).

The moth Phyllocnistis liquidambarisella creates distinctive leaf mines on the leaves of Sweetgum.

The fungus Sweet Gum Fruit Fungus (Xylaria liquidambaris) can be found on dropped, decaying Sweet Gum fruit.

Resources

View at iNaturalist Search Google Images Search MBP Facebook posts
View at Maryland Plant Atlas Search Flora of North America Search Mid-Atlantic Herbaria Consortium Search Norton-Brown Herbarium Search MNPS Facebook posts

Citations

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Source: Wikipedia

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