Liquidambar styraciflua

 

Sweetgum                                          

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Franklin and Marshall College, 637 College Avenue, Lancaster PA (near Distler Hall)

 

As a successor to the now-fallen White Ash that served as Franklin and Mar- shall College's "protest tree" for five decades (see White Ash entry), this large Sweetgum stands just 40 feet away from that earlier tree's spot.  

 

The tree -- to borrow words spoken about its predecessor -- serves "as the signpost for student conviction and free expression of ideas."  The issue addressed by student posters  during Fall 2018 was transgender rights.

 

This amazing species is strictly a temp- erate climate tree, yet one specimen is currently thriving in the humid, tropical city of Bangkok, Thailand.