Oriental sweetgum | |
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19th century illustration of oriental sweetgum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Altingiaceae |
Genus: | Liquidambar |
Species: | L. orientalis |
Binomial name | |
Liquidambar orientalis | |
Distribution map |
Liquidambar orientalis, commonly known as oriental sweetgum or Turkish sweetgum, [3] is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar , native to the eastern Mediterranean region, that occurs as pure stands mainly in the floodplains of southwestern Turkey and on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Oriental sweet gum is a deciduous tree, 30–35 m (98–115 ft) in height with a trunk of 100 cm (39 in) in diameter. The unisexual flowers bloom from March to April. The fruits ripen in November to December, and the seeds are wind dispersed. The tree is very attractive and especially valued for its colourful autumn leaves. Oriental sweet gum trees favour an elevation of between 0–400 m (0–1,312 ft), a mean annual rainfall of 1,000–1,200 mm (39–47 in) and a mean annual temperature of 18 °C (64 °F). The tree's optimal growth is on rich, deep and moist soils such as bogs, river banks and coastal areas, but it is also able to grow on slopes and dry soil. [4]
The bark is not cracked when young but fissured when old. The bark is grayish when young and turns grayish-brown or brown with age. Young lenticels are first greenish, then reddish-brown and thin. The lenticels on the bare and shiny lenticels are small and visible to the naked eye. The lateral buds are arranged in a multi-row spiral on the shoots and are more or less inclined to the lenticel. The apical bud is slightly larger than the lateral buds. The buds are egg-shaped, ellipsoid and pointed, shiny, and the margins of the scales are slightly lashed, brown and bare. The color of the scales is apple green-brown. When rubbed, it is aromatic.[ citation needed ]
In leaves with five lobes and radial veins, each lobe is usually divided into secondary lobes. The number of lobes with a blunt or pointed tip is rarely 3 or 7. The margins of the leaves are fine and regularly toothed. At the base of the leaf blade, at the junction of the main veins, bundles of hairs are stalked, and on some leaves the hairs in question are negligible. The upper surface is completely bare and bright green. The stem of the leaf is thin and quite long. Male flowers are in the form of a board, and those on the upper axis of the buds are dense and sessile, and those on the lower side are less frequent.[ citation needed ]
The flowers are spherical, adorned with small reddish flowers. When the flower matures, it turns into a prickly cone and turns grayish-green. The female flowers are green when they first form, and later turn reddish. They are slightly hairy, remain unshed in the fruit and harden and gain a woody structure. The fruit hangs down at the end of a long stalk. When they mature, they harden, the capsules open, and the seeds are shed. The color of the seed, which has very small wings, is dark brown, flattened, rounded at the bottom, and pointed at the tip. The seed coat is shiny, thin and hard.[ citation needed ]
The forests of this Tertiary relict endemic taxon are found notably within a specially protected area between Dalyan and Köyceğiz in Muğla Province, Turkey, where a 286 ha (710 acres) zone is set aside as a nature reserve and arboretum for the preservation of the species. A large stand also surrounds Marmaris. Another sweetgum forest area of 88.5 ha (219 acres) under protection is situated in Burdur's district of Bucak alongside Karacaören dam reservoir on the road to Antalya. [5] The trees are also found locally in Denizli's districts of Beyağaç and Tavas. [6] The total area of pure sweetgum forests in Turkey covers 1,348 ha (3,330 acres), all in the southwestern regions of the country. The present-day extension corresponds to a marked decrease since the 1940s level of 6,000–7,000 ha (15,000–17,000 acres), although the protective measures and infrastructure in place since the 1980s helped stop loss of stands and led to slight improvements.[ citation needed ] The species is also found on the Greek island of Rhodes, in a riparian forest inside a narrow, steep valley on the island's north coast. [1]
The name in Turkish for the species is "Sığla ağacı", while the name in Greek is Ζητιά (Zitia). [1]
Used as a "love potion" and perfume by the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra in the past, oil (Ancient Greek : στύραξ) has also been used as a medicine since the Hippocratic period. The ancient Egyptians also used the oil during embalming. Amphorae filled with oil unearthed from sunken Phoenician ships show that sweetgum oil occupied an important place in Mediterranean trade in the past.[ citation needed ]
The extraction of its sap and the production of a balsam based thereof (sığla yağı), as well as exports of these products, play an important role in the local economies of Greece and Turkey. The harvest of the sap and the preparation of the oil involve quite strenuous tasks lasting from May to November and consisting of several separate phases. The thick sap is obtained in the period June to September by gradually stripping a quarter of the total trunk lengthwise. [7] Wounding the trunk causes sap to emerge, which can be further stimulated by tapping the trunk. The stripped sap is put in boiling water to soften, then pressed. The styrax is then diluted with water, keeping it soft and preserving its aroma. By steam distillation, a light yellow oil is obtained. There is a danger of the present generation of master oil makers not being replaced in near future. [8]
In English, this oil is known under several names, shortly as storax to include all sweetgum oils, or as styrax Levant, styrax gum, Asiatic storax, balsam storax, liquid storax, Oriental sweetgum oil, or Turkish sweetgum oil. Diluted with a suitable carrier oil, it is used externally in traditional medicine.[ citation needed ] It is a different product from the benzoin resin produced from tropical trees in the genus Styrax .[ citation needed ]
The hydrocarbon styrene is named for Levant styrax from Liquidambar orientalis, from which it was first isolated, and not for the genus Styrax; industrially produced styrene is now used to produce polystyrene plastics, including Styrofoam.[ citation needed ]
The status of and developments regarding the protection of oriental sweetgum continue to occupy local and national environmental agenda at a critical level in Turkey. Among the main causes for the loss of sweetgum forests was the cutting and felling of trees for opening new fields for agriculture, as well as the construction of three separate dams at localities that precisely corresponded to important habitats for the species. On Rhodes, development and tourism activities are considered a threat to the species. As such, Liquidambar orientalis holds an important position in the region's biodiversity and is considered an endangered species. [1]
In polymer chemistry and materials science, a resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses mainly on naturally occurring resins.
Quercus palustris, also called pin oak, swamp oak, or Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section of the genus Quercus. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native range due to its ease of transplant, relatively fast growth, and pollution tolerance.
Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months.
Liquidambar, commonly called sweetgum, gum, redgum, satin-walnut, styrax or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated as a part of the Hamamelidaceae. They are native to southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and North America. They are decorative deciduous trees that are used in the wood industry and for ornamental purposes.
American sweetgum, also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, gumball tree, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Sweetgum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae.
Fagus orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental beech, is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Eurasia, in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Kalopanax septemlobus, common names castor aralia, tree aralia, and prickly castor oil tree, is a deciduous tree in the family Araliaceae, the sole species in the genus Kalopanax. It is native to northeastern Asia, from Sakhalin and Japan west to southwestern China. It is called cìqiū (刺楸) in Chinese, eumnamu (음나무) in Korean, and harigiri in Japanese.
Styrax is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees in the family Styracaceae, mostly native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority in eastern and southeastern Asia, but also crossing the equator in South America. The resin obtained from the tree is called benzoin or storax, often used as a vanilla-like component in perfumery.
Storax, often commercially sold as styrax, is a natural resin isolated from the wounded bark of Liquidambar orientalis Mill. and Liquidambar styraciflua L. (Hamamelidaceae). It is distinct from benzoin, a similar resin obtained from the Styracaceae plant family.
Tyler Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located at 515 Painter Road, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is open daily except for major holidays; an admission fee is charged to non-members.
June Haimoff (MBE) was an English environmentalist who lived in Dalyan in the Turkish province of Muğla. In the period from 1984 to 1988 she and fellow-environmentalists such as David Bellamy, Lily Venizelos, Günther Peter, Nergis Yazgan and Keith Corbett launched a successful campaign to preserve İztuzu Beach as a habitat for the endangered loggerhead turtle. This beach is one of the main nesting places of the species in Turkey and the Mediterranean.
Acer monspessulanum, the Montpellier maple, is a species of maple native to the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal in the west, to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel in the east, and north to the Jura Mountains in France and the Eifel in Germany.
Stacte and nataph are names used for one component of the Solomon's Temple incense, the Ketoret, specified in the Book of Exodus. Variously translated to the Greek term or to an unspecified "gum resin" or similar, it was to be mixed in equal parts with onycha, galbanum and mixed with pure frankincense and they were to "beat some of it very small" for burning on the altar of the tabernacle.
Styrax benzoin is a species of tree native to Indochina and western Malesia. Common names for the tree include gum benjamin tree, loban (in Arabic), kemenyan (in Indonesia and Malaysia), onycha, and Sumatra benzoin tree.
L. orientalis may refer to:
The Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area is a protected natural reserve in the Turkish province of Muğla. In June 1988 it was determined and declared the first protected area of its kind of Turkey. In 1990 the original SPA area was extended westwards. Up to now, there are fourteen natural reserves with this status, of which Pamukkale is probably the best-known. All these areas are under the supervision of the ÖÇKK, the Turkish Environmental Protection Agency for Special Areas.
Eucalyptus benthamii, commonly known as Camden white gum, Bentham's gum, Nepean River gum, kayer-ro or durrum-by-ang, is a species of tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has mostly smooth bluish grey or white bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds arranged in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, bell-shaped or conical fruit.
The Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests is an ecoregion in the lands around the Aegean Sea. The ecoregion covers most of mainland Greece, the Greek Aegean Islands, the western coast of Turkey, the southern Vardar river valley in North Macedonia, the southern Struma river valley at the extreme south-western corner of Bulgaria.
Zelkova serrata is a species of the genus Zelkova native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan. It is often grown as an ornamental tree, and used in bonsai. There are two varieties, Zelkova serrata var. serrata in Japan and mainland eastern Asia, and Zelkova serrata var. tarokoensis (Hayata) Li on Taiwan which differs from the type in its smaller leaves with less deeply cut serration on the margins.
Liquidambar acalycina, Chang's sweetgum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Altingiaceae native to southern China. Growing to 30–50 ft (9.1–15.2 m) tall and 20–30 ft (6.1–9.1 m) broad. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree with three-lobed maple-like leaves that turn red in autumn before falling. It is monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers appear on the same plant. The flowers are insignificant, yellow/green in colour, and are followed by small gum-balls that persist on the tree until winter. The wood exudes a sweet-smelling resin when pierced, giving the tree its common name.
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