![]() In John Ray's Historia Plantarum (1686) it is called Styrax liquida. The earliest known published record of Liquidambar styraciflua is in a work by Spanish naturalist Francisco Hernández published posthumously in 1615, in which he describes the species as a large tree producing a fragrant gum resembling liquid amber, whence the genus name Liquidambar. The species is also known as the "redgum", for its reddish bark. The common name "sweetgum" refers to the species' "sweetish gum", contrasting with the blackgum ( Nyssa sylvatica), only distantly related, with which the sweetgum overlaps broadly in range. The sweetgum has a Nahuatl name, Ocotzocuahuitl, which translates to 'tree that gives pine resin' from ocotl ('pine'), tzotl ('resin'), cuahuitl ('tree'), which refers to the use of the tree's resin. The name " storax" has long been confusingly applied to the aromatic gum or resin of this species, that of L. orientalis of Turkey, and to the resin better known as benzoin from various tropical trees in the genus Styrax. ![]() Its specific epithet styraciflua is an old generic name meaning 'flowing with storax' (a plant resin). This plant's genus name Liquidambar was first given by Linnaeus in 1753 from the Latin liquidus ('fluid') and the Arabic ambar ('amber'), in allusion to the fragrant terebinthine juice or gum which exudes from the tree. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves (similar to maple leaves) and its hard, spiked fruits. Sweetgum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. superfl.Īmerican sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America.
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