How do you identify a sweet gum tree?
To identify sweet gum trees, look for large star-shaped lobed green leaves that turn spectacular autumn red, yellow, and orange colors. Sweetgum tree bark looks light gray with vertical fissured ridges. Spiky gumballs are another identifying feature of sweetgum trees.
Is there a difference between a gum tree and a sweet gum tree?
Black Tupelo or Nyssa sylvatica is the most common true gum in North America and grows from Canada to Texas. Another common tree that is called a "gum" is sweetgum and is actually an entirely different tree species classification called Liquidambar. The fruit and leaves of sweetgum look nothing like these true gums.
How do you identify sweet gum trees in the winter?
The Sweet Gum, Liquidambar styraciflua, is both common and abundant in Central North Carolina. And it is very easy to identify in winter due to the high numbers of new, yellow-brown branches and twigs displayed by young, growing trees.
How can you tell sweet gum from Oak?
A feature most apparent when the leaves are off, and a hallmark of oak tree twigs, is a cluster of buds at the twig's end. The sweetgum has a single, sticky terminal bud, and not a cluster of buds. Sweetgum also occasionally has corky wings along its twigs, a characteristic absent in most oak trees.
Are sweet gum trees good for anything?
Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum are derived from the resinous sap that exudes when the outer bark of the tree has been damaged. The sap, known as storax, has been used for centuries to treat common ailments such as skin problems, coughs, and ulcers.
Is sweet gum wood good for anything?
Sweetgum wood is used to make veneer, plywood, cabinets and furniture. The gum from these trees has been used as chewing gum and even employed to concoct medicines and salves to cure a variety of ailments, treat wounds and serve as an important ingredient in adhesives.
How can you tell the difference between maple and sweet gum?
Sweetgum leaves are palmate, or flat and hand-shaped, with five or sometimes seven pointed lobes with serrated edges. Maple leaves resemble sweetgum leaves and each other in their palmate shape.
What is the difference between a sweet gum tree and a black gum tree?
Despite its name the gum is not sweet. It's called Sweet Gum to separate it from a different species altogether, the Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica, which is extremely sour and bitter. In comparison the mildly bitter Sweet Gum is definitely sweeter.
Why is it called a sweetgum tree?
The name sweetgum comes from the Native Americans who would peel back the bark, scrape off the resin, and chew the resin as one would chew gum. Phenology: From late March to early April, the flowers, fruits and leaves emerge.
Is sweet gum good for firewood?
Does Sweet Gumwood burn good? Sweet Gum burns good when dry, like most other types of hardwood. It produces up to 20.6 million BTU per cord, which is better than the average for burning. Although the wood burns quickly, mixing it with other hardwoods will give you better results.
Should I cut down my sweet gum tree?
Sweet gum trees become overbearing when their extensive root systems bulge from the ground and interfere with more favorable plants or home foundations. When this happens, homeowners choose to cut them down to avoid further damage.
Do squirrels eat sweet gum balls?
Sweet gum balls start out plump and green, but they dry as they mature. The spines become even spinier, and holes open up to reveal seeds inside the balls. These seeds are food for about 25 species of birds, chipmunks and squirrels, says Texas Parks and Wildlife.
What is the difference between a sweet gum tree and a black gum tree?
Despite its name the gum is not sweet. It's called Sweet Gum to separate it from a different species altogether, the Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica, which is extremely sour and bitter. In comparison the mildly bitter Sweet Gum is definitely sweeter.
What kind of tree is a sweet gum tree?
How to Grow and Care for American Sweetgum TreesCommon NamesSweetgum, sweet gum, alligatorwood, American sweetgum, American storax, gum tree, redgum, star-leaved gumBotanical NameLiquidambar styracifluaPlant FamilyAltingiaceaePlant TypeDeciduous treeMature Size80 ft. tall, 60 ft. wide for the species plant5 more rows•Aug 17, 2022
Should I cut down my sweet gum tree?
Sweet gum trees become overbearing when their extensive root systems bulge from the ground and interfere with more favorable plants or home foundations. When this happens, homeowners choose to cut them down to avoid further damage.
What species is sweet gum tree?
sweet gum, (genus Liquidambar), sometimes spelled sweetgum, genus of 15 species of deciduous trees, the only genus of the family Altingiaceae. Sweet gums are native to North America and Asia and are valued as a source of resin and timber. Several species are grown as ornamental trees for their showy fall foliage.
What is sweetgum balsam?
Montezuma shared xochiocotzoquahuitl (sweetgum) balsam with Cortés. Its genus name, Liquidambar, comes from the Latin liquidus (liquid) and ambar (amber) and refers to the bark's aromatic resin. Pioneer families used sweetgum as it has been used through the ages: for healing wounds, chewing, incense and perfumery. The resin was used in manufacturing drugs, soaps and adhesives during World War I and World War II.
Where does Sweetgum grow?
Sweetgum is native throughout Kentucky, except the Bluegrass. It grows in moist flat areas in association with pin oak or sycamore. The Kentucky champion tree is in Henderson County and is over 70 feet tall.
When do sweetgum seed balls develop?
Spiky seed balls develop in autumn and persist through winter, swinging from branches on their long stems. Sweetgum has attractive bark appearing as corky scales in youth and becoming deeply furrowed with age. Culture: Sweetgum prefers deep, rich, moist, slightly acidic soil and full sun.
What is the most commercially important selection of sweetgum?
Shrub-like habit. ‘Oconee' - Is similar to ‘Gumball,' but it has a more rounded habit and better fall color. ‘Rotundiloba' - Leaves of this fruitless cultivar are lobed rather than pointed. This is the most commercially important selection of sweetgum.
How tall do sage trees grow?
Tree size: Grows fast in moist soil, slower in dry soil. Can reach a height of 60 to 75 feet with a spread of at least two-thirds the height at maturity; can reach 120 feet tall in the wild.
What color are starfish leaves?
Leaf: Starfish-shaped, glossy leaves, bright green with a sweet smell. On a single tree, leaves may be yellow, red and purple in fall.
Is Burgundy a winter hardy plant?
‘Brotzman #1' - Selected for its corky bark and winter hardiness. Burgundy™ - Good red to purple fall color, but may not be as winter hardy as the species. ‘Gold Star' - Variegated form of sweetgum with splotches of yellow over green.
What is round leaf sweetgum?
Roundleaf sweetgum has star-shaped leaves with rounded tips and can turn deep purple to yellow in the fall. Rotundiloba does well in USDA hardiness zones 6 through 10 so it can be planted throughout most of the Eastern states, the Western coastal states but has a problem in upper Midwestern states.
Where can I find sweetgum?
Little, Jr./U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service/Wikimedia Commons. Sweetgum grows from Connecticut southward throughout the East to central Florida and eastern Texas. It is found as far west as Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and north to southern Illinois.
How many lobes does a sweetgum have?
Description: The star-like leaf has 5 or 7 lobes or points and turns from green in summer to yellow or purple in autumn.
Why is Sweetgum called Redgum?
Sweetgum is sometimes called redgum, probably because of the red color of the older heartwood and its red fall leaves.
Where can I find a sage plant?
It is found as far west as Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and north to southern Illinois. It also grows in scattered locations in northwestern and central Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. 4. of 6.
Is Rotundiloba a good tree?
‘Rotundiloba’ is slowly but steadily being recognized as a superior tree to the species, especially for street tree use or near other pa ved surfaces, since it develops fewer typical burr-like sweetgum fruit.
Can sweetgum be transplanted?
It is a little tricky to transplant because of its coarse root system, but root-pruned or container-grown trees from nurseries establish readily. The tiny seeds germinate freely if stratified and surface-sown in spring..."
What color is the bark of a sweetgum tree?
The bark of the American sweetgum is a gray-brown color, and becomes more and more ridged/fissured with increasing age.
What is a sweetgum tree?
The sweetgum is a fast-growing tree that develops a significant taproot that tolerate high moisture levels in soil. It is used for its lumber, and is one of the most common sources of hardwood and plywood, but also produces spectacular colors as it drops its leaves in the fall.
What is the name of the resin that sweetgums chew?
The name Liquidambar styraciflua means “liquid amber” and styraciflua is in reference to styrax balsam, which is a kind of resin produced by the sweetgum that can be chewed for medicinal and recreational purposes. The American sweetgum is native to North America, and its genus has only 5 other species included. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, the first mention of the sweetgum in history came from the diary of a Spanish conquistadore in 1519, who watched a ceremony between Cortez and Montezuma, in which the “liquid amber” resin from a sweetgum tree was used. Indeed, in North American Indian medicine, the resin from sweetgum trees were used to treat several ailments, as well as for dental hygiene.
How many lobes does a sweetgum have?
Sweetgum leaves tend to have 5 lobes, arranged in a star-like shape, with palmate venation (which means that each vein has roughly the same size through each lobe). Each leaf blade tends to be 4-8 inches, and the edges are serrated, meaning slightly jagged/notched around each leaf's border. Hide.
Where is the sweetgum tree found?
Variety: Rotundiloba. Description: Liquidambar styraciflua is known as the American sweetgum. It is a deciduous tree that can be found in southeastern U.S., as well as southern Mexico and Central America. The sweetgum is a fast-growing tree that develops a significant taproot ...
Where can I find sweetgum trees?
The sweetgum is also found in central America, including Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. It is most populous in the American South, though, especially in the lower Mississippi Valley. The sweetgum tree can withstand a wide range of temperatures, given that winter temperatures in the Northeast can get below freezing and summer temperatures can ...
When do sweetgum flowers bloom?
Dried up female flowers. The flowers of the American sweetgum bloom from March to May , and since the species is monoecious, the trees contain both pistillate and staminate flowers, but each flower contains one or the other sexual reproductive parts (i.e., a single flower doesn't have both pistil and stamen).
What does sweet gum look like?
Sweetgum has a very uniform grain pattern and is moderately heavy. It would appear much like soft maple but without the white wood. Red gum can appear to look like cherry but without the luster. The sapwood takes dark stain well.
What color is the bark on a tree?
The bark on the trunk is light gray in color with deep, rounded ridges. In some trees (especially in the northern part of the range) the bark on the twigs and branches is one of the tree’s more distinctive features: it attaches by edges instead of by broad surfaces so that the twigs appear to be winged!
What is the difference between a red oak and a white oak?
The difference between red oak trees and white oak trees are the leave shapes. The white oak tree leaves have rounded leaves whereas the red oak either has a pointed lobe or spiny teeth on the margins. Also white oak trees acorns develop faster than the acorns of the red oaks.
Where is sweet gum found?
Sweet gum, a tree genus of the Latin name Liquidambar, is found around the world. The American Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), native to North and Central America, is one of the most common hardwoods in the Southeastern United States, where it preferably grows in humid and temperate climates.
Does sweetgum burn well on a stove?
While sweetgum is not very popular , it burns well in the stove. It produces a decent amount of heat among the firewood species. It produces nearly 21.3 million BTUs per cord. It is hardwood but it burns fast so it is recommended to burn with better quality firewood like oak.
Is American sweet gum deciduous?
American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, 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
Is black gum sweet or sour?
Despite its name the gum is not sweet. It’s called Sweet Gum to separate it from a different species altogether, the Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica, which is extremely sour and bitter. In comparison the mildly bitter Sweet Gum is definitely sweeter.
How old is sweet gum?
Such trees can grow to be as old as 400 years old and they can reach towering heights of 150 feet.
Where does sweet gum come from?
The truth is that sweet gum comes from the Liquidambar Styraciflua, which is one of the most common hardwoods in the southeastern United States.
Why does sweet gum wood warp?
This is because when sweet gum wood dries out it tends to warp really bad. When it warps it get the fibers are interwoven and makes them even harder to cut through.
How many BTUs does sweet gum wood have?
As for sweet gum wood, you can rest assured that you are getting a fine burning wood because it is cable of producing 20.6 million BTUs per cord. This is pretty impressive for firewood.
What is sweet gum firewood?
This is a type of firewood that is whitish to light pink or tan color in appearance. Due to these characteristics, some individuals will refer to the species as sapgum or sweetgum. Is sweet gum good firewood?
What color is the bark of a spruce tree?
The bark is light brown and tinged with red/grayish fissures that appear with scaly ridges. The branches usually carry layers of cork, while the branchlets are pithy with many angles.
Is sweet gum good for firewood?
Sweet gum will make excellent firewood as it is capable of producing large amounts of heat, as long as you are willing to put in the extra work. Most people view sweet gum wood as a luxury that should be used for lumber and furniture production. The wood can be easily identified thanks to its star-shaped leaves, ...
What is the color of sapwood?
Color/Appearance: Wide sapwood is whitish to light pink or tan color, and is sometimes referred to as “sapgum” or “sweetgum.”. Heartwood is gray to reddish brown, and is commonly referred to as “redgum.”. Heartwood with darker black streaks is called “figured redgum.”.
Does sweet gum warp?
Sweetgum is known to warp and distort badly during initial drying. (After initial drying, distortion is significantly less, but the wood still experiences an appreciable amount of movement in service.) Turns, glues, stains, and finishes well. Responds moderately well to steam bending. Odor: No characteristic odor.
Does sweet gum cause skin irritation?
Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Sweetgum has been reported to cause skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
What color are sweetgum leaves?
Deep, glossy green star-shaped leaves mark the Sweetgum. Leaves turn yellow-purple-red in the fall, and stay on the tree quite late. Its shape is pyramidal, becoming more rounded with age. Avoid polluted sites. Grows 60'-70', with a 45' spread. (Zones 5-9)
What zone does Sweetgum grow in?
The american sweetgum can be expected to grow in Hardiness Zones 5–9. View Map
Where do sweetgum trees come from?
The Sweetgum tree is native to the southeastern United States and a member of a genus made up of only six species. The others are found only in Asia. The first historical reference to the tree comes from the author and soldier, Don Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who accompanied Cortez in 1519 and was a witness to ceremonies between Cortez and Montezuma, who both partook of a liquid amber extracted from a sweetgum tree. The tree itself was first noticed and recorded by the historian Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1542. Once commercially popular for soaps, adhesives and pharmaceuticals, today its wood is valuable for fine furniture and interior finishing.
How many lobes does a sage have?
Features star-shaped leaves with 5 lobes (occasionally 7) that are lustrous medium green in color, toothed along the margins and 4–7½" in length.
How fast does a sage tree grow?
This tree grows at a medium to fast rate, with height increases of anywhere from 13" to more than 24" per year.
