LIQUIDAMBER TREE. 



LIQUIDAMBAR. 



AMENTACEJE. MONCEC1A POLVANDRIA. 



This tree was so named by the Spaniards in America, from the 

 liquid gum which it distils. It is familiarly called sweet-gum, and 

 was formerly called liquid storax-tree. French, copalme, liquid- 

 ambar; Italian, liquidambra. 



THE trunk of the Liquidambar styraclf.ua is commonly 

 two feet in diameter at full growth, straight, and bare of 

 branches to the height of fifteen feet ; from thence the 

 branches spread and rise in a conic form, to the height 

 of forty feet or more from the ground. The leaves are 

 shaped somewhat like those of the lesser maple, but are 

 of a darker green, and glossy on their upper surface : a 

 sweet and glutinous substance distils through their pores 

 in warm weather, which renders them clammy to the 

 touch. In February, before the leaves are formed, the 

 blossoms begin to break forth from the tops of the 

 branches, into spikes of pale red, or deep saffron-coloured 

 globular flowers, which swell gradually, still retaining 

 their round form, to the full maturity of the seed-vessels, 

 which are thickset with pointed hollow protuberances : 

 each cell contains a seed winged at one end, beside many 

 small grains, distinct from the seed. 



The wood of this tree is used in wainscoting, &c. 

 The grain is fine, and sometimes beautifully variegated ; 

 but is apt to shrink if not well seasoned ; and to season 

 it well is an operation of eight or ten years. From be- 



