Liquidambar styraciflua f. rotundiloba

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

This is an interesting form whose leaves have rounded lobes . It appears to set fruit rarely or never. The degree of fall color varies widely each year; in addition the tree can develop narrow branch crotch angles and a more open habit. Due to its non-fruiting habit, it may be a viable choice for warmer zones.

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Hamamelidaceae

Shrubs or trees , evergreen or deciduous, hermaphroditic , andromonoecious, or monoecious. Indumentum usually of stellate hairs or stellate or peltate scales . Buds perulate or naked. Leaves distichous or spiral , rarely subopposite or opposite, stipules minute to large, usually paired (solitary and enclosing bud in Mytilaria, and apparently absent in Rhodoleia) ; petiole usually well defined; leaf blade simple or palmately lobed , pinnately veined or palmately 3 5-veined. Inflorescences usually spikes or heads , rarely racemes or (condensed) thyrses or panicles, axillary or terminal . Flowers small to medium-sized, bracteate and often bracteolate , bisexual or unisexual , actinomorphic or rarely zygomorphic (Rhodoleia), hypogynous to epigynous , floral cup shallow to urn-shaped, sometimes absent; sepals 4 or 5( 10), sometimes absent, imbricate, usually persistent ; petals absent or 4 or 5, yellow, white, greenish or red, often ribbonlike and circinate in bud, caducous ; stamens 4, 5, or many, free , rarely arranged in 2 whorls with the inner whorl staminodal, development of polyandrous androecia centripetal or centrifugal ; anthers basifixed , thecae mostly bisporangiate , each opening by two valves or a simple longitudinal slit, or monosporangiate and opening by a single valve (Exbucklandia, Hamamelis and the genera of the S hemisphere), connective protruding; disk scales sometimes present between stamens and carpels. Ovary 2-locular, carpels free at apex; ovules mostly 1 per carpel, less often many, but then most of them sterile , crassinucellar, bitegmic, anatropous , halfway between apotropous and epitropous , pendent from ovary top if solitary, along the carpellary margins if numerous ; placentation axile . Styles and stigmas 2. Fruit a capsule, dehiscing septicidally, septifragally, or loculicidally and 4-valved; endocarp woody or leathery, usually loose from leathery exocarp . Seeds 1 to many per carpel; if solitary then seed coat thick, hard, smooth and shiny, black or brown; if numerous then sometimes winged and only a few viable. Endosperm thin; embryo straight; cotyledons leaflike, radicle short.

About 30 genera and 140 species: E and S Africa (including Madagascar), E, W, and SE Asia, NE Australia, Central, North, and South America, Pacific Islands; 18 genera (four endemic) and 74 species (58 endemic) in China.

Several genera and species need critical revision .[1]

Genus Liquidambar

Trees , aromatic and resinous , glabrous or with simple hairs . Bark gray-brown, deeply furrowed ; liquid, and Arabic ambar, amber] twigs and branches sometimes corky-winged. Dormant buds scaly , pointed , shiny, resinous, sessile. Leaves long-petiolate. Leaf blade fragrant when crushed, (3-) 5(-7) -lobed, palmately veined, base deeply cordate to truncate , margins glandular-serrate, apex of each lobe long-acuminate. Inflorescences terminal , many-flowered heads ; staminate heads in pedunculate racemes , each head a cluster of many stamens; pistillate heads pendent, long-pedunculate, the flowers ± coalesced . Flowers unisexual , staminate and pistillate on same plant, appearing with leaves; calyx and corolla absent. Staminate flowers : anthers dehiscing longitudinally; staminodes absent. Pistillate flowers pale green to greenish yellow; staminodes 5-8; styles indurate and spiny in fruit, incurved . Capsules many, fused at base into long-pedunculate, spheric, echinate heads, 2-beaked, glabrous, septicidal . Seeds numerous , mostly aborting, 1-2 viable in each capsule, winged . x = 16.

Species 3(-4) : North America, e Asia, and Turkey.[2]

Physical Description

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Lawn tree or shade tree for larger residences. For fall color. Street tree where ample room is provided. Parks and campuses. • Liabilities: Chlorosis on high pH soils. Lack of cold hardiness , especially young trees . Because of wide geographical range it is important to use northern seed. sources for trees in New England or the Northeast. Has a shallow root system . Spiny fruit balls can be a litter problem. • Care: Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system . Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring .

Biology

Growth

Culture: Prefer deep, moist, bottomland soils. Best in full sun , does okay in partial shade. Transplant B&B due to fleshy , coarse root system . Use larger plants when transplanting in colder areas to avoid cold injury. to twigs .

Soil: Moist, slightly acidic soil. Tolerates wet soils. • Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun

Moisture: Water Requirements: Once established needs only occasional water.

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): -10°F. • Heat Zones: High: 9 (>120 to 150 days) Low:1 (< 1 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Rehder Publication : J. Arnold Arbor . 12: 70, fig 1931 .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Liquidambar

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 20 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

L. acalycina (Changs Sweetgum) · L. formosana (Formosa Sweetgum) · L. formosana 'Afterglow' (Formosa Sweetgum) · L. orientalis (Oriental Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua (American Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua f. rotundiloba (Fruitless Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua var. macrophylla (Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Aurora' (Aurora Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Burgundy' (Burgundy Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Cherokee' (Red Gum) · L. styraciflua 'Corky' (Corky Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Festival' (Festival Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Gold Dust' (Red Gum) · L. styraciflua 'Grazam' (Grandmaster Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Gumball' (Red Gum) · L. styraciflua 'Palo Alto' (Palo Alto Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Silver King' (Red Gum) · L. styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette' (Red Gum) · L. styraciflua 'Variegata' (Golden Variegated Sweetgum) · L. styraciflua 'Ward' (Ward Cherokee Sweetgum)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Chang Hung-ta. 1979. Hamamelidaceae. In: Chang Hung-ta, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 35(2): 36116.
• Bogle, A. L. 1986. The floral morphology and vascular anatomy of the Hamamelidaceae: Subfamily Liquidambaroideae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 73: 325-347.
• Duncan, W. H. 1959. Leaf variation in Liquidambar styraciflua L. Castanea 24: 99-111.
• Hill, A. F. 1952. Economic Botany. New York.
• Holm, T. 1930. Leaf-variation in Liquidambar styraciflua L. Rhodora 32: 95-105.
• Sargent, C. S. 1890-1902. The Silva of North America.... 14 vols. Boston and New York. Vol. 5, pp. 7-12.
• Schery, R. W. 1952. Plants for Man. New York.
• Schmitt, D. 1966. Pistillate inflorescence of sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.). Silvae Genet. 15(2): 33-35.
• Wilson, P. 1905. Altingiaceae: Liquidambar. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Flora.... 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 22, p. 189.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed March 27, 2012.
• Merrifield Garden Center, Fairfax VA USA
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.

Identifiers

• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:141360-2
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 141360-2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1269292

Footnotes

1. Zhi-Yun Zhang, Hongda Zhang & Peter K. Endress "Hamamelidaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 18. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Liquidambar". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.