Liquidambar styraciflua

Scientific name: Liquidambar styraciflua

Common name: sweetgum

Native: Yes

Native range: Native to the eastern and southeastern United States, as well as parts of Mexico and Central America [1,2,3,4,5].

Distribution in North America: Click to view the USDA Plants Database page for L. styraciflua.

USDA Zones: 5B-10A [4]

Maximum age: Typically lives to 200 years, but may live as long as 300 years [7].

Ecology: The seeds are eaten by a variety of birds, including small songbirds such as finches, chickadees, and sparrows, larger fowl such as quail and ducks, as well as squirrels and chipmunks [1,2,3,5]. The wood provides building materials for beaver dams [1,2,3]. It hosts a wide array of butterflies and moths, including many of North America's largest and most charismatic saturniid moths, such as the luna moth (Actias luna), the Io moth (Automeris io), the promethea silk moth (Callosamia promethea), the imperial moth (Eacles imperialis), and the cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia)[8].

Ethnobotany: Several Indigenous American groups use the plant for medicinal purposes, and its sap can also be used as chewing gum [1,2,3,5,6].The aromatic sap, also called styrax, is used in perfume making, and the wood is used in cabinetry and woodworking [1,2,3,5].