Sweetgum
Liquidambar styracifluaSweetgum is a tree native to Central Texas that grows 50–60 ft tall and 30 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and high water, and handles clay soil. Blooms green in mid spring. Good for birds.
Will it grow in your yard?
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The facts
6 sources- Type
- Tree
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (3–7 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- High
- Height
- 50–60 ft
- Spread
- 30 ft
- Bloom
- Mid Spring · green
- Foliage
- Deciduous or dies back in winter
- Soil
- Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, saline, sand, well drained
- Wildlife
- Supports birds
Where it grows
Recorded in this EPA Level IV ecoregion in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
51 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.
also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.