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LIQUIDAMBAR, LIQUID AMBER

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 744 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

LIQUIDAMBAR, LIQUID See also:AMBER or SWEET See also:Gum, a product of Liquidambar styraciflua (See also:order Hamamelideae), a See also:deciduous See also:tree of from 8o to 140 ft. high, with a straight See also:trunk 4 or 5 ft. in See also:diameter, a native of the See also:United States, See also:Mexico and Central See also:America. It bears palmately-lobed leaves, somewhat resembling those of the See also:maple, but larger. The male and See also:female inflorescences are on different branches of the same tree, the globular heads of See also:fruit resembling those of the See also:plane. This See also:species is nearly allied to L. orientalis, a native of a very restricted portion of the See also:south-See also:west See also:coast of See also:Asia See also:Minor, where it forms forests. The earliest See also:record of the tree appears to be in a See also:Spanish See also:work by F. Hernandez, published in 1651, in which he describes it as a large tree producing a fragrant gum resembling liquid amber, whence the name (Nov. Plant., &c., p.56). In See also:Ray's Historia Planlarum (1686) it is called Styrax liquida. It was introduced into See also:Europe in 1681 by See also:John Banister, the missionary See also:collector sent out by See also:Bishop See also:Compton, who planted it in the See also:palace gardens at See also:Fulham. The See also:wood is very compact and See also:fine-grained—the See also:heart-wood being reddish, and, when cut into planks, marked transversely with blackish belts. It is employed for veneering in America. Being readily dyed See also:black, it is sometimes used instead of See also:ebony for picture frames, balusters, &c.; but it is too liable to decay for out-See also:door work.

The gum See also:

resin yielded by this tree has no See also:special medicinal virtues, being inferior in therapeutic properties to many others of its class. Mixed with See also:tobacco, the gum was used for smoking at the See also:court of the Mexican emperors (See also:Humboldt iv. 1o). It has See also:long been used in See also:France as a perfume for gloves, &c. It is mainly produced in Mexico, little being obtained from trees growing in higher latitudes of See also:North America, or in See also:England.

End of Article: LIQUIDAMBAR, LIQUID AMBER

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