Vasilis Teodoridis:
Hamamelidaceae | Liquidambar
1. Liquidambar formosana Hance; Ann. Sci. Nat.; Bot.; sér. 5. 5: 215. 1886.
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Liquidambar acerifolia Maximowicz; L. formosana var. monticola Rehder & E. H. Wilson; L. maximowiczii Miquel; L. tonkinensis A. Chevalier.
Trees to 30 m tall; trunk sometimes 1 m in diam.; bark gray-brown; branchlets pubescent or glabrous; somewhat lenticellate; buds ovoid; 1 cm; puberulent. Stipules red; nearly free or adnate to petiole; 1–1.4 cm; petiole 8–12 cm; pubescent; leaf blade broadly ovate; palmately 3-lobed and 3-veined; central lobe longer; abaxially usually drying gray-white; pubescent or glabrous; base rounded; margin glandular serrate; apex caudate-acuminate; cordate; subcordate or truncate; veins prominent on both surfaces. Male inflorescence a short spike; several arranged in a raceme. Female inflorescence 24–43-flowered; peduncle 3–6 cm; occasionally lenticellate; eglandular. Male flowers: stamens many; filaments unequal; anthers slightly shorter than filaments. Female flowers: staminode teeth 4–7; needlelike; 4–8 mm; ovary pubescent; styles 6–10 mm; usually coiled backwards. Infructescence globose; 3–4 cm wide. Capsules with persistent staminodes. Seeds many; brown. Fl. Mar–Jun; fr. Jul–Sep.
Sunny places; near villages; montane forests; 500--800 m. Anhui; Fujian; Guangdong; Guizhou; Hainan; Hubei; Jiangsu; Jiangxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Zhejiang [S Korea; Laos; N Vietnam]. Fujian; Guangdong; Guizhou; Hainan; Hubei; Jiangsu; Jiangxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Zhejiang [S Korea; Laos; N Vietnam]