Liqudambar styraciflua
Family - Liqudambar - Gum

The Sweet Gum tree sports reddish burgundy leaves in the fall and is one to the prettiest autumn deciduous trees. The nearly star shaped leaves has five to seven lobes, is smooth and almost leathery in texture. The bark will be scaly and dark. The bark yields a gummy substance which can be used to manufacture soap, glue, and some types of drugs. The tree did find these uses during the dark days of World War II.

This native American tree can be found in wet, swampy locations because it tolerates wet soil. It prefers the rich woodland soil and can be found with other deciduous hardwoods like yellow poplar, pin, red and willow oak and some types of hickories.

The Sweet Gum has a nice grain, but is not very strong. It is used mainly as a veneer wood and placed over plywood for the manufacture of furniture. The fruit of the tree is a spiky ball about one inch in diameter. The seeds are contained within this fruit and are released during the fall through spring. The seeds are eaten by some squirrels, chipmunks, and various species of finches.

Sweet Gum is an important ornamental tree of America, mainly because the star shaped attractive deciduous leaves take on a striking burgundy red appearance in the fall. It is an attractive tree year round, though with seeds that are moderately important to wildlife.

? 2006 Paul Wonning is the owner of Gardens and Nature.com a web site about gardening, hiking and other nature related topics.
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