Arkansas Tree Database

Scientific name:

Liquidambar Styraciflua

Size:

75' tall by 50' wide, up to 130' tall

Leaves:

alternate, simple, 4"-7.5" across, star-shaped with 5 pointed lobes and finely toothed margins

Flowers:

not showy

Fruit:

woody capsules in pendulous spiny ball 1" in diameter, frequently persisting on the tree into late winter, commonly called gumballs

Fall Interest:

variable; pale yellow to orange and red to deep bronze or purple; deciduous

Culture:

sun; medium moisture; adaptable and fast-growing, often a pioneer tree after logging and in old fields

Disease/Insect:

Use:

shade tree with messy fruits and shallow rooted; wood used for cabinets, veneer, plywood, and pulp, second only to oaks among hardwoods, the reddish brown heartwood valuable and sold under the name red gum

Cultivars:

select mostly fruitless cultivars: 'Rotundiloba,' Cherokee TM

Notes:

gummy sap has a fragrant pleasant odor and was used by pioneers medicinally and as chewing gum; seeds eaten by many birds and mammals, and bark a favorite of beaver; larval host for two of Arkansas' largest moths, the luna moth and the regal moth; native to Arkansas