Liquidambar styraciflua 'SAFRO'

Sweetgums are highly ornamental trees or shrubs which have been on top of the popularity list for centuries. These come from North America from where they spread to nearly whole world: from colder parts of temperate regions to southern countries where summer temperatures easily reach 40°C. Their give-away are star-shaped leaves which can easily be mistaken for maple leaves, and their autumn colours which are simply breathtaking.

We are happy to present our selection of a sweetgum that was gained in Italian nurseries. It bears our name SAFRO^®and we believe that you will find it as attractive as we do. It is a deciduous tree that has larger leaves than the species. They are deeply lobed, fresh green, and glossy, and offer a fantastic colour show in the autumn when they change to the following colours: golden-orange, scarlet red and deep purple and burgundy red. And what is most interesting – all at the same time on one tree. Coloured leaves remain on the tree for a considerable period of time. On well established plants they persist into December.

Unlike other large-leaved varieties with deeply lobed leaves Safro sweet gum keeps its typical feature which is fissured, corky bark on the trunk and branches. It grows medium fast into a tree with oval crown when young, and pyramidal shape later. This tree is easy to shape and can be kept smaller by pruning at the end of winter. Once you give it a desired form it does not usually go wild to spoil it for a long time. Another nice feature is the fruit. Formed in about 3 cm wide spiny spheres they can be quite attractive to look at and a bit irritating when stepped on barefoot once they have hardened up, if not cleared from pavements or lawns in spring.

Sweet gums are soil tolerant but prefer semi-fertile, deep, evenly moist but well-drained soil that should be acidic or at least neutral. It will not thrive on chalk or lime. Once established they can take both temporary flooding and drought. The more acidic and moist soil you can provide (by adding peat and mulching the roots with bark) the better autumn colours can be expected. The location should be sunny as it does not tolerate shaded areas. If you buy a plant taller than say 1.5m stake it well for minimum of 2 or rather 3 years. Plants older than 3 years are fully hardy to about -27°C (USDA zone 5).

Last update 19-11-2011