Tree · Hamamelidaceae
Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweetgum is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 743 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Sweetgum at a glance
- Native in
- 743 counties, across 17 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −21°F
- Mature height
- 100 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −21°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Sweetgum is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 743 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 743 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 65 counties
- Arkansas 71 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Florida 51 counties
- Georgia 35 counties
- Illinois 29 counties
- Indiana 34 counties
- Kentucky 105 counties
- Louisiana 62 counties
- Mississippi 76 counties
- Missouri 14 counties
- North Carolina 71 counties
- Pennsylvania 8 counties
- South Carolina 27 counties
- Tennessee 49 counties
- Texas 28 counties
- West Virginia 18 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 100 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 36 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −21°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Hamamelidaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- LIST2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Liquidambar styraciflua (PLANTS symbol LIST2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources