Liquidambar styraciflua 'Palo Alto'Sweetgum
A Californian selection of sweetgum chosen for the regularity of its conical, symmetrical crown and for its reliable autumn colour, in uniform orange and red, even in mild climates where seed-raised plants colour poorly. For avenue planting, tree-lined walks and single specimens.
- Reliable orange and red autumn colour, even in mild autumns
- Conical, symmetrical crown, uniform in avenue planting
- Tolerates heat, pollution and moderate compaction
About this cultivar
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Palo Alto' reaches 15 to 20 metres in height and 8 to 12 in spread, with a conical to pyramidal crown and regular branching, on a straight trunk with grey, fissured bark. It is a selection propagated by grafting, so the specimens in an avenue planting are comparable with one another.
The palmate leaves, with five to seven lobes and glossy green in summer, turn orange and red in autumn uniformly across the whole crown, and the colour comes even in mild autumns and lasts until November. The spherical, spiny fruits stay on the tree in winter.
It needs full sun and moist, deep, acidic to neutral, well-drained soils; it suffers in soils with active lime. It tolerates summer heat, pollution and moderate compaction, and benefits from supplementary watering in the first years. It grows at a medium to fast rate.
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