Liquidambar styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette'

Narrow crowns
Narrow lanes and streets
Low maintenance
Endures pavement
Ornamental value
Height
18m - 20m
Width
2m - 3m
Ornamental value
Leaf, Autumn colour, Stem, Shape
Autumn colour
Yellow-red
Soil type
Well-drained

Where placing a tree in a public space used to be impossible, there now is the Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’. This new cultivar of Liquidambar styraciflua, the sweet gum tree, is one of the narrowest columnar trees ever. This variety already received a gold medal in America in 2010, from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

The Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ offers decorative value all year round, with deep-green, star-shaped foliage in spring and summer, which turns yellow-red in autumn. The most beautiful colouration can be achieved in non-calcareous and more acidic soil. As it ages, this tree will start showing beautiful corky wings, which will give it decorative value in winter. The large, star-shaped foliage gives the slim sweet gum tree some body.

This type grows best in permeable soil, preferably in direct sunlight. The tree produces fewer seeds, which leads to less inconvenience in public spaces.In the Netherlands, the tree can grow 30-60 cm each year up to a final height of 18-20 m. The full maximum width is 2 m. The Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ originates from low-lying, humid forests and coastal areas from the eastern half of North America, south of New England. The mother tree is 20 m high and less than 2 m wide.

The Liquidambar styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette' is one of the narrowest columnar trees so far.