THE LIQUIDAMBAR 
85 
THE LIQUIDAMBAR. 
Thk Liquidambar is a tree of large size, 
where it finds congenial soil and a mild 
climate. In the woods of some of our 
Southern States, and especially in low, 
moist ground near the coast, it attains 
its maximum height of 150 feet, and 
when well grown is an imposing object, 
distinct and beautiful in every part. 
Liquidambar belongs to the Witch- 
Hazel family, which includes our com- 
monWitch-Hazel,and our native shrub, 
Fothergilla caroliiia. It is a pleasant 
tree to live with, attractive at all seasons. 
When the young leaves unfold in the 
spring they perfume the air, and under 
our warm sun the tree distils a fragrant 
gum which druggists call copal-balsa^n^ 
and use as a substitute for storax. The 
leaves of the Liquidambar or Sweet 
Gum, as it is often called, are simple, 
broader than long, deeply cleft, 3 to 9 
inches wide, smooth above, and downy 
in the axils of the veins beneath. These 
somewhat star-shaped leaves are a deep 
dark green, and glossy, with a freshness 
which they retain throughout the heat 
of summer if the tree is planted in moist 
ground, or where the roots have access 
to running water. If planted on dry 
ground the tree does not thrive, though 
it may cling to life. We have one here 
planted ten years ago on a dry hillside 
and in poor soil, which frequently dies 
to the ground, but retains root vitality 
and tries again every spring, as if hoping 
for better things. Another young tree 
planted at the same time in a hollow 
where the soil is rich and moist, is grow- 
ing well and now about 1 2 feet in height. 
All of our American writers on native 
trees unite in praise of the Liquidambar. 
It used to be (and perhaps still is) a good 
deal planted in England. Downing, 
who wrote about it many years ago, 
was, I think, instrumental in bringing 
it to the notice of English planters. He 
says: " We hardly know a more beauti- 
ful tree than the Liquidambar in every 
stage of its growth, and during every 
season of the year. Its outline is not 
only picturesque or graceful, but simply 
beautiful. . . . It is a highly-pleasing, 
round-headed, or tapering tree, which 
unites and harmonises well with others. 
but its chief beauty lies in the foliage. 
' During the whole of the summer it pre- 
serves, unsoiled, that dark, glossy fresh- 
ness which is so delightful to the eye; 
while the regularly palmate form of the 
leaves distinguishes it at once from the 
common trees of a plantation. But in 
autumn it assumes its gayest livery, and 
is decked in colours almost too bright 
and vivid for foliage, forming one of 
the most brilliant objects in American 
scenery at that season. The prevailing 
tin t of the foliage is then a deep, purplish 
red, unlike any symptom of decay, and 
{ quite as rich a colour as that commonly 
