Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

Short description: The sweetgum from North America is one of the absolute autumn highlights among deciduous trees: its star-shaped foliage glows from yellow to orange and scarlet to deep purple—often several colors at once on a single tree. With its slender, conical habit and aromatic bark, it is a distinctive specimen tree for larger gardens and parks.

Climatic characteristics & site conditions: Sweetgum prefers acidic to neutral, fresh, well-drained soils—on calcareous soils it shows chlorosis and grows poorly. It is hardy down to around –20 °C; in exposed locations, late frosts can damage young shoots. It is ideally suited to the acidic soils of the Black Forest, Bavarian Forest and the Upper Palatinate. Autumn color is most intense in sunny, warm autumn conditions—an advantage for southern German sites.

Advantages: Unrivalled autumn color, attractive conical habit, robust on acidic soils, hardy, no significant pest pressure.

Disadvantages: Not native, not tolerant of calcareous soils, sensitive to late frost in the young plant stage, requires a lot of space when mature, no ecological value for native insects.