Altingiaceae & Liquidamber.
Now in the Altingiaceae family they were originally in Hamamelidaceae and a few sources still place them there including Mabberley who has them as the subfamily Altingioideae.
Liquidamber, the only surviving genus has 15 species native to parts of central and north America, the eastern Mediterranean, China and Asia.
All species are trees, mostly deciduous with some up to 40 or 45 m high.
Smooth grey to brownish-grey bark on young trunks becomes deeply fissured on older trees.
Twigs, with a layer of cork may have wings down them.
Ovoid terminal buds are protected by a series of scales that may be smooth or have silky brown hairs.
Simple leaves, on long petioles are alternately arranged in a spiral.
There is often a pair of small deciduous stipules on the base of the petiole.
Stipules almost always have sharp or blunt teeth on the edge.
Leaf blades can be entire but most are palmate with only 3 lobes or 3 to 7.
A few species have small secondary lobes (lobules) on the main lobes.
The edges in most species have small teeth that may have glands.
Domatia (tufts of hairs in the vein axils) may be present.
Trees in cooler areas have leaves that develop autumn colours before they fall.
Inflorescences are either male or female with both on the same tree.
They consist of a stalk with one or more dense spherical clusters (heads) of flowers on it.
Each head is on a peduncle but the small flowers are directly attached to the central core.
There are bracts at the base of each cluster.
Flowers in male or staminate clusters have no sepals or petals.
They consist of a few up to 100 stamens with basifixed anthers that open through longitudinal slits.
There are no female parts.
Pendulous axillary female inflorescences are on a longer stalk with one or more heads.
Pistillate flowers have no sepals or petals but numerous tiny scale-like staminodes.
The inferior ovary has 2 locules each with 20 to 50 ovules.
There are 2 styles each with a stigma.
The dry fruit are multiple fruits with a central core holding the small septicidal capsules that develop from each ovary.
Each fruiting head, around 3 cm across is covered by the hardened styles.
The small staminodes also persist forming tiny scales between the capsules.
Some also have bristles between the capsules.
Most seeds do not develop but the few that do are hard, ovoid and winged.
J.F.
