What is a gum ball tree?

What is a gum ball tree?

During the fall, gumball trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) provide lawns with spectacular colors. The tall-growing plant dazzles with its orange, red, yellow and purple autumn foliage. The tree’s other common names include sweetgum, star-leaved gum, alligator-wood, gumtree and redgum.

What does sweet gum trees look like?

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.

What kind of tree is a sweetgum?

Liquidambar styraciflua
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 …

Why is it called sweet gum tree?

The tree gets its name from Native Americans and early pioneers who would chew its hard clumps of resin. This could be obtained by stripping off the bark and allowing the resin to harden. Commercial storax was used in fragrances and medicines as well and is found in related oriental sweet gum plants.

What is sweetgum wood used for?

Sweet gum wood is commercially used for electronic cabinetry, furniture, doors, millwork and paneling. It is also used to make baskets, railroad ties, crates and pallets. Sweet gum wood is also used to make plywood, veneer and upholstered furniture frames.

What are sweetgum trees for?

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.

What is a sweetgum tree good for?

What are sweetgum trees used for?

What is the difference between a maple and a sweetgum tree?

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. Maple leaves turn a variety of colors in the fall, ranging from reds to yellows, oranges and browns.

Is sweetgum tree edible?

The Sweet Gum tree is the sand spur of the forest. You painfully find them with your feet. The only edible part of the tree is the dried sap which makes a fragrant, bitter chewing gum. Despite its name the gum is not sweet.

What are the characteristics of a sweetgum tree?

Young twigs and branches of the sweetgum have characteristically corky ridges on which the fruits hang. The trunk of the sweetgum is rather straight; in small trees, branches protrude to create a pyramidal form and are small in diameter, while once the tree has aged, dominant branches emerge and their diameters expand.

What are some fun facts about the American sweetgum?

The sweetgum is a monoecious species and is pollinated primarily by wind. The sweetgum produces a resin that can harden and be used for chewing gum as well as medicinal purposes. Some other fun facts about the American sweetgum include that it provides protection and food for many forest animals, including squirrels, deer, doves, and chipmunks.

Where does the sap from a sweetgum tree come from?

The Sweetgum comes from North America. The resinous sap running from the wounded bark was previously used in chewing gum production. The tree has a slim crown and is also often found in private gardens, because it has beautiful autumn colors.

What kind of animals eat sweetgum tree fruit?

Small mammals such as chipmunks, red squirrels and gray squirrels also enjoy the fruits and seeds. 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.