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Liquidambar formosana
Hamamelidaceae FAMILY

Liquidambar formosana

Liquidambar formosana

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
Growth—

Liquidambar formosana is a plant of moist areas in the subtropics to tropics and is not generally very frost-tolerant. The Monticola group, which comes from western Hubei and north-eastern Sichuan, is the hardiest form and can tolerate temperatures lower than -5°c when dormant[1, 2]. Young plants are susceptible to frost damage and should be protected for their first few years[1]. Prefers a moist but not swampy loam in a sunny sheltered position[3, 1]. Plants are shade-tolerant when young, but require a sunny position as they get older[4]. Requires a deep fertile soil[1]. Prefers a neutral to acid soil, growing poorly on shallow soils overlying chalk[5]. Trees respond very well to coppicing[4]. The tree has large, aggressive roots which can lift paving stones[6]. This species resents root disturbance, young plants should be pot-grown and be placed in their permanent positions as soon as possible[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Harvest the seed capsules at the end of early autumn or late autumn, dry in a warm place and extract the seed by shaking the capsule. Stored seed requires 1 - 3 months stratification and sometimes takes 2 years to germinate. Sow it as early in the year as possible. Germination rates are often poor. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame or greenhouse for their first winter. Since they resent root disturbance, it is best to plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer of their second year and give them some protection from cold for their first winter outdoors[PFAF]. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame. Suckers in early spring. Layering in autumn. Takes 12 months. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Liquidambar+formosana>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books, London. · 1998 · ISBN 0-330-37376-5 ↩︎Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Trees of Laos and Vietnam - A Field Guide to 100 species. — Hoang Van Sam; Khamseng Nanthavong; Kessler P.J.A. · Blumea · 2004 ↩︎A detailed guide, with excellent line-drawings, to 100 of the more important trees of Laos and Vietnam. A very good work, giving lots of information about each plant. Originally published in the journal Blumea, it is available as a PDF on the Interne
  5. [5]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  6. [6]Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida — University of Florida · http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/ ↩︎PDF fact sheets on over 500 shrubs.
  7. [7]Plantae Wilsonae. Vol 1 - 3 — Wilson. E. H. · University Press; Cambridge. · 1911 - 1917 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Details of the palnts collected by the plant collector E. H. Wilson on his travels in China. Gives some habitats. Not for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  8. [8]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  9. [9]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
  10. [10]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
  11. [11]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  12. [12]Biotik, Laos — http://biotik.org/species_list_laos.html ↩︎Information on more than 100 species of Laotian trees.
  13. [13]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  14. [14]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  15. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎