Liquidambar styraciflua

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Common name: sweetgum [1], red gum [2]

Liquidambar styraciflua
Liquidambar styraciflua SEF.jpg
Photo by the Southeastern Flora Database
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Order: Hamamelidales
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Genus: Liquidambar
Species: L. styraciflua
Binomial name
Liquidambar styraciflua
L.
LIQU STYR DIST.JPG
Natural range of Liquidambar styraciflua from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Taxonomic Notes

Synonyms: none

Varieties: none

Description

L. styraciflua is a perennial tree of the Hamamelidaceae family native to North America. [1]

Distribution

L. styraciflua is found in the southeastern corner of the United States from Texas to Massachusetts, as well as California. [1]

Ecology

Habitat

L. styraciflua is found in swamp forests, floodplains, moist forests, depressional wetlands, old fields, and disturbed areas. [2] Specimens have been collected from hardwood swamp, lowland woodland, wet hammock, edge of lake, pine woods, mixed woodland, wet slash pine, sand bluffs, and edge of mesic woodland. [3]

L. styraciflua responds positively to soil disturbance by heavy silvilculture in North Carolina.[4] When exposed to soil disturbance by military training in West Georgia, L. styraciflua responds negatively by way of absence.[5] It exhibits no response to soil disturbance by improvement logging in Mississippi.[6] L. styraciflua responds negatively to soil disturbance by clearcutting and chopping in North Florida flatwoods forests.[7] It also responds negatively to soil disturbance by roller chopping and disturbance by a KG blade in East Texas Loblolly Pine-Hardwood Forests.[8]

Phenology

L. styraciflua has been observed flowering in February, March, and May. [9]

Fire ecology

L. styraciflua is quite fire resistant. [10]

Use by animals

L. styraciflua has medium palatability for browsing animals [1], and the bark is a favorite food of beavers. Additionally, the sap used to be gathered as chewing gum. [2]

Conservation and Management

L. styraciflua is listed as a species of special concern by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. [1]

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 USDA Plant Database https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LIST2
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  3. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2018. Collectors: Cecil Slaughter, R.K. Godfrey, Kathy Craddock Burks, David A. Breil, Kurt Blum, Andre F. Clewell, Patricia Elliot, Gary Knight, A. Gholson Jr., Richard P. Wunderlin, Bruce Hansen, Karen MacClendon, Paul L. Redfearn, M.P. Burbank, Sherman, Shamblee, John W. Thieret, G.S. Ramseur, A.E. Hammond, Windler, M. Burch, Clarke Hudson, D.S. Correll, Raymond Jones, R. E. Wicker, Ed Keppner, Lisa Keppner, Richard Gaskalla, Ana Ochoa, Marc Minno. States and counties: Florida (Marion, Leon, Jefferson, Liberty, Walton, Dixie, Jackson, Santa Rosa, Levy, Hernando, Madison, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Wakulla, Calhoun, Osceola, Baker, St. Johns, Washington, Holmes) Georgia (THomasGrady, De kalb, Clarke) Arkansas (Stone, Searcy, Marion) North Carolina (Moore, Alamance) West Virginia (Cabell) Louisiana (Washington, Bienville, Evangeline, Tangipahoa, Lafayette, Lincoln) Tennessee (Coffee) Maryland (St. Marys) Mississippi (Forrest)
  4. Cohen, S., R. Braham, and F. Sanchez. (2004). Seed Bank Viability in Disturbed Longleaf Pine Sites. Restoration Ecology 12(4):503-515.
  5. Dale, V.H., S.C. Beyeler, and B. Jackson. (2002). Understory vegetation indicators of anthropogenic disturbance in longleaf pine forests at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA. Ecological Indicators 1(3):155-170.
  6. McComb, W.C. and R.E. Noble. (1982). Response of Understory Vegetation to Improvement Cutting and Physiographic Site in Two Mid-South Forest Stands. Southern Appalachian Botanical Society 47(1):60-77.
  7. Moore, W.H., B.F. Swindel, and W.S. Terry. (1982). Vegetative Response to Clearcutting and Chopping in a North Florida Flatwoods Forest. Journal of Range Management 35(2):214-218.
  8. Stransky, J.J., J.C. Huntley, and Wanda J. Risner. (1986). Net Community Production Dynamics in the Herb-Shrub Stratum of a Loblolly Pine-Hardwood Forest: Effects of CLearcutting and Site Preparation. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-61. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station. 11 p.
  9. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 24 MAY 2018
  10. Brockway, D. G., et al. (2005). Restoration of longleaf pine ecosystems. F. S. United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Research Station.