American Sweetgum Sweet Gum Tree Leaves
From native trees for north american landscapes sternberg wilson be careful when locating sweetgum as a street tree since its large aggressive roots may lift curbs and sidewalks.
American sweetgum sweet gum tree leaves. This tree is monoecious meaning that it has both staminate and. Trees are the backbone of any good landscape plan. Its shape is pyramidal becoming more rounded with age and yields long stemmed. Like the maple the sweetgum is also known for the rich spectrum of color it.
American sweetgum are deciduous trees prized for their star shaped leaves that turn a mix of brilliant fall colors. Uses for a sweet gum tree. From march to april meiosis occurs to produce haploid gametes with pollen dispersal occurring afterward. The sweet gum liquidambar styraciflua is part of a rather small family of only one genus known as the altingiaceae.
This stately tree. The widely distributed maple is part of the much larger sapindaceae family and includes trees as different as the japanese maple the horse chestnut and the lychee. The sweet gum got its name for the resinous sap that results when you score its bark. The sweetgum tree is native to the southeastern united states and a member of a genus made up of only six species.
Sweet gum trees liquidambar styraciflua are a common sight in the eastern united states and in several central american and southern mexican regions. Plant trees 8 to 10 feet or more from curbs. 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 central america sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the. The first historical reference to the tree comes from the author and soldier don bernal diaz del castillo who accompanied cortez in 1519 and was a witness to ceremonies between cortez and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.
The others are found only in asia. While you wait the tree has much to offer. After dormancy the small green flowers of the sweetgum begin to bloom from march to may. It is not however sweet.
The gum has long been harvested and used for chewing gum. Some communities have large numbers of sweetgum planted as street trees. Mixed buds of the american sweetgum form in mid september and the tree drops its leaves in the fall and goes dormant during winter. Facts on the sweet gum tree.
Sweetgum are native to the southeastern united states and belong to the altingiaceae family. Much of the root system is shallow. The trees spike ball fruit is almost as telltale for identification as the star shaped leaves. The american sweetgum tree liquidambar styraciflua is a beautiful tree that is native to the southeastern united states.
If you re afraid of the messy gumballs or seed pods produced by many sweetgums look for a non fruiting variety of this popular tree.