Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Genus: Liquidambar
Species: Liquidambar formosana
Common name: Formosa sweet gum
Origin: China
Description: Formosa Sweet gum has a wide, pyramidal shape when young but eventually grows to a rounded or irregular form. Young specimens may vary in form and be somewhat irregular. It has a more rounded crown than native Sweet gum. The large, three-lobed leaves, purplish-red when young, are dark green through the growing season and in fall turn a beautiful yellow-red colour in the south or red in the north. Branches are covered with characteristic corky projections.
Economic Importance:
- Wood of L. formosana has been tried as a source of paper.
- Used in china for tea chests.
- Leaves used to rear silk worms.
- Tree yields a balsam known as Chinese storax.
