Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua

Hamamelidaceae (Witchhazel Family)

▲ mature tree

▲▼ leaves, with some immature fruit visible below

▲ some trees have corky growths on some twigs

▲ trunk and bark 

Location on Missouri State University campus:  east of Plaster Student Union, in island by Siceluff Hall

Liquidambar styraciflua: Sweetgum

·         leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, palmately 5-7 lobed with serrate lobes; 4-7.5" long and equally wide; dark green and glossy above, lighter beneath; often with good fall colorC yellow, orange, red purple

·         stems slender to stout, some with thick, corky wings; usually yellow to brown; pith star-shaped, solid white to brown

·         bark gray-brown with deep furrows and rounded ridges

·         grows 60-75' tall with 2/3 as wide in upright, oval outline

·         fruit is a spiny pediceled ball (syncarp of capsules)

·         prefers full sun and deep, moist, well-drained, acidic, high organic-matter soil, but tolerates most soils; fleshy roots sensitive during transplanting

·         medium to fast growth rate

·         native to Missouri