Liquidambar, commonly called sweetgum[ redgum,][ satin-walnut,][ styrax or American storax,][ is the only extant genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species.]
Etymology
Both the scientific and common names refer to the sweet plant sap ( liquid amber) exuded by the trunk when cut.
Species
Extant species
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| central & southern China |
| Cambodia |
| Fujian and Zhejiang, China |
| south China to Vietnam |
| south China to Vietnam |
| Indonesia to Tibet. Some populations in India and Bangladesh |
| Vietnam, Laos, China, Taiwan and Korea |
| southeast China |
| north Guizhou, China |
| Hainan, China |
| southwest Turkey and Rhodes, Greece |
| Vietnam |
| Southeast Asia to China |
| eastern North America from Connecticut, USA, to Nicaragua |
| southeast Yunnan, China to Vietnam |
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Fossils
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† Liquidambar changii - Miocene (Washington state, North America)
Description
They are all large, deciduous trees, tall, with leaf shape 3- to 7-lobed leaf arranged spirally on the stems and length of , having a pleasant aroma when crushed. Their leaves can be many colors such as bright red, orange, yellow, and even purple.Lee Allen Peterson (1977). 039531870X, Houghton Mifflin Company. 039531870X
At higher latitudes, Liquidambars are among the last of trees to leaf out in the spring, and also among the last of trees to drop its leaves in the fall/autumn, turning multiple colors. Fall/autumn colors are most brilliant where nights are chilly, but some cultivars color well in warm climates.
Distribution
Species within this genus are native to Southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and eastern North America.
Fossil records
This genus is known in the fossil record from the Cretaceous to the Quaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).
Uses
The wood is used for furniture, interior finish, paper pulp, veneers and baskets of all kinds. The heartwood once was used in furniture, sometimes as imitation mahogany or Juglans regia. It is used widely today in flake and strand boards. Sweetgum is a foodplant for various . The American sweetgum is widely planted as an ornamental, within its natural range and elsewhere.
The hardened sap, or gum resin, excreted from the wounds of the sweetgum, for example, the American sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua), can be chewed on like chewing gum and has been long used for this purpose in the Southern United States.
In Traditional Chinese medicine, lu lu tong, or "all roads open," is the hard, spiky fruit of native sweetgum species. It first appeared in Chinese medical literature in Omissions from the Materia Medica, by Chen Cangqi, in 720 AD. Bitter in taste, aromatic, and neutral in temperature, lu lu tong is claimed to promote the movement of blood and qi, water metabolism and urination, expels wind, and unblocks the channels. It is supposedly an ingredient in formulas for epigastric distention or abdominal pain, anemia, irregular or scanty menstruation, low back or knee pain and stiffness, edema with difficult urination, or nasal congestion.
In the fall/autumn, the trees drop their hard, spiky seedpods by the hundreds, which can become a serious nuisance on pavements and lawns. Some US cities have expedited permits to remove sweetgum trees.
In Louisiana folklore, a sharpened stick from this tree can be used to wound a cryptid known as the Parlangua (a hybrid of man and alligator).
Gallery
Image:Liquidambar orientalis arboretum Breuil 2.jpg|Foliage of Liquidambar orientalis
Image:Sweetgum in autumn.JPG| Sweetgum fall foliage and seedpods, Brooklyn, New York
Image:Sweetgum tree seed pods.jpg|Sweetgum seed pods in Michigan during winter
Image:Sweetgum Seed closeup.jpg|Closeup on a sweetgum seed pod
Notes
External links
