Slender Silhouette Sweetgum

The Slender Silhouette Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette) is a medium- to large-sized columnar tree. Its extremely narrow form defines this cultivar. As it matures, it keeps its narrow form throughout the whole tree and is densely branched. It has the distinctive star-shaped Sweetgum leaves, emerging as forest green through the spring and summer and turning yellow to red to orange in the fall.

The Slender Silhouette Sweetgum was discovered growing alongside railroad tracks by Don Shadow. Its extremely narrow form makes it great for a couple things in the landscape. When planted in groups this tree makes an excellent privacy screen along property lines with its dense foliage and will provide an attractive wall of reds and yellows in the fall. It also can be planted on its own in tight spaces in gardens or close to a house.  \n \nIt does produce the Sweetgum fruit that some say is a nuisance but this cultivar produces relatively few of them and its form is so narrow that even if a little clean up is needed it will not be a hassle. Does best in full sunlight and can tolerate most soil conditions including a bit of dry soil once established but should be watered regularly when first planted.