Liquidambar Styraciflua

One of the best for autumn colour, ‘Sweet Gum’ is a gorgeous tree, with large, star-like, shiny, bright green leaves which turn spectacular shades of orange, red, purple and yellow in the autumn. Its shape is broadly conical, and although it grows slowly, it is best suited to a larger garden, as it is long-lived and will eventually grow to 25 metres. In Britain, it flowers intermittently and inconspiculously in spring, but it is for the foliage that this tree is prized. Grow it either as a specimen tree, or as the centrepiece to a glade. Trees grown in a rich, damp soil in full sun will colour the best.