Liquidambar styraciflua 'LANE ROBERTS' sweetgum

“Lane Roberts” is a large-leaved variety of sweetgum. The leaves are mid- to deep green, deeply lobed and look like maple leaves but are not opposite. It is popular for its autumn colours with prevailing red, deep purple, and almost blackish red. The fruits are small, medium-hard spiny spheres. In gardens with limited space for roots it seldom grows taller than 10m, however, in parks and in southern countries you may encounter much taller and obviously very old specimens reaching over 20m. It likes any fertile to mid-fertile soil, preferably acidic and moist.