Photo gallery
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The stunning autumn colour of Liquidambar styraciflua Lane Roberts in a parkland -
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Liquidambar styraciflua Lane Roberts in summer foliage on the Barcham Trees nursery -
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Row of medium-size Liquidambar styraciflua Lane Roberts Gum trees at Barcham Trees nursery
Sweet Gum Lane Roberts
Liquidambar styraciflua Lane RobertsOut of stock
Our new stock is growing! New stock will be available 1st September 2025.About this product
Liquidambar styraciflua Lane Roberts is a particularly stunning cultivar of Sweet Gum that does particularly well in the UK. Sweet Gum is native to the Eastern USA, where it is seen to grow to epic proportions; thankfully, this variety grows smaller than the parent, making it useful for gardens.
This tree is grown for its beautiful foliage and autumn colour; it is late to come into leaf in spring and produces deeply lobed, bright green foliage that is often mistaken for that of a Maple.
In autumn, Sweet Gum comes into the limelight, giving a flashy display of colour that varies greatly between the different cultivars of Liquidambar. The Lane Roberts Sweet Gum produces autumn colours of deep red and burgundy. As with all cultivars of Liquidambar styraciflua, the bark is smooth and grey, unlike the fissured bark of the parent.
Liquidambar styraciflua Lane Roberts is smaller in stature and tighter in its pyramidal shape than the species, with a larger leaf and more red focus to the autumn colour. That said, it follows the preferences of its parent for soil type, enjoying fertile, well-drained soils. It performs poorly on chalky soils.
Due to its smaller size at maturity, this slightly smaller-growing specimen of Sweet Gum is a wonderful choice for gardens that cannot accommodate a large tree.
It is perhaps best planted to complement some of the spring flowering trees, such as Malus, that do not have such glorious autumn colour, thus making the best of all the seasons!
Mature Height: 12-17m