American Sweetgum Tree

Liquidambar styraciflua

The American Sweetgum Tree is a beautiful tree that is native to the southeastern United States. It produces star shaped leaves that remain on the tree until quite late into the fall, providing brilliant fall color, with leaves turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. Its shape is pyramidal, becoming more rounded with age and yields long-stemmed, woody, burr-like fruit that is approximately 1½" in diameter. American sweetgum seeds are eaten by eastern goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, mourning doves, northern bobwhites and wild turkeys. Small mammals such as chipmunks, red squirrels and gray squirrels also enjoy the fruits and seeds. This tree grows at a medium to fast rate, with height increases of anywhere from 13" to more than 24" per year.