The leaf will have a saw-tooth or serrated edge. Provides brilliant fall color, with leaves turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. Over 200+ free JavaScripts here! It also has a low value, making it an economical choice. This iconic tree is easy to identify, in large part because of its distinctive leaves and notable fruit. The American sweetgum grows in acidic, loamy, moist, sandy, well-drained, wet and clay soils. Eucalyptus, a type of gum tree, is used to create air fresheners, essential oils, hygiene products, and more. Sweet gum tree is a tall, majestic tree that's difficult to beat for symmetrical beauty in a landscape setting. Sweetgum is native throughout Kentucky, except the Bluegrass. Provides brilliant fall color, with leaves turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. myimages[3]="../../../images/top-banner/LX25-FreeShipping.jpg" Most maple trees are between 30 and 150 feet tall, with flowers that are yellow, orange, red, or green. If you want to find out what they are, leave a few to . The sweet gum resembles a maple tree, and in the summer, the star-shaped leaves and sturdy trunk are impressive, if easily overlooked. They grow best in temperate climates with distinct seasons. Politique d'Utilisation des Cookies de Houzz. As with hackberry, most people saddled with this garbage tree live with it because no other trees will grow there. lol, the website I put up a link to describes the sweetgum seed balls as "looking like a mace weapon". In other cases, some trees leaves tend to have a bit higher lignin levels. Blue Gum Tree, common eucalyptus tree. sweet gum: [noun] a North American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) of the witch-hazel family with palmately lobed glossy green leaves, corky twigs, a round spiny brown fruit cluster, and hard wood. Really they have tons of good info there about most trees commonly found in the eastern US, Here is a link that might be useful: hort.uconn.edu. Liquidambar styraciflua. It has become a prized specimen in parks, campuses, and large yards across the country. Bark matures to medium gray and resembles . "Liquidambar Styraciflua." /* The others are found only in Asia. In the late Summer it leaves the tree and wanders on the ground. The major maples have leaves that are divided into three to five lobes. "Liquidambar Styraciflua L." Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service. Product link : Earthwise Electric Chipper/Shredder. Personnaliser mon exprience l'aide de cookies, Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers, Outdoor Lighting & Audio/Visual Specialists. Known as one of the largest caterpillars in North America it can grow to the size of a hotdog. I've read that both maples and sweetgums can develop extensive roots through decades. Maple species (Acer spp.) Unlike sweetgum fruit, red maple fruit does not persist. For this reason, the tree is also known as the tulip tree. And now, you can go on with your life knowing that you'll always be able to tell the difference between a baby Maple tree and Sweetgum. The tree can thrive in a variety of climates, though it prefers direct sunlight. During Autumn, leaves turn a bright red or an bright orange. Some species of maple have reddish-purple bark; it has distinct ridges and is hard to distinguish from the trees branches. Thursday: 10 a.m. 5 p.m. Removing the tree permanently by cutting it down is the most effective solution for removing the sweetgum ball problem from your lawn, then following up by replacing it with a . Black gum trees are a little smaller, reaching a full height of only 30-50 feet, according to the University of Kentucky. Monday: 10 a.m. 5 p.m. myimages[4]="../../../images/top-banner/ez50-banner.jpg" var myimages2=new Array() Sweetgum: An Ancient Source of Beneficial Compounds with Modern Benefits.Pharmacognosy Reviews, vol. Sweetgum is second only to oak in production of wood for furniture, cabinetwork and veneers. While some varieties are filled with goodness, other trees leaves can have very little nutritional value. Random Image Link Script- By JavaScript Kit(http://www.javascriptkit.com) Started by livemusic (Zones 5-9). Species of sweetgum trees are found around the world, from North America (Liquidambar styraciflua) to China (Liquidambar acalycina) to Greece and Turkey (Liquidambar orientalis). Btw, 9 years ago when the question was originally asked Chueh didn't appear to feel fun was being made by 'plant nerds'. */ All you need to do is find a tree that you can confirm as being Liquidambar Styraciflua, then crush a leaf under your nose. I looked at dozens of descriptions, pictures and measurements before learning that Sweetgum has a distinct smell. Chalk maple, Acer leucoderma, thrives from North Carolina south to Florida and west to Texas, overlapping with the Florida maple, Acer barbatum. This is due in part to the oak leaves higher levels of lignin. A very interesting article, lucky_p and one certainly worth reading. var ry=Math.floor(Math.random()*myimages.length) Nutrients that energize the compost, all while adding large amounts of organic matter to it as well. The fruit of sweetgum looks nothing like the fruit of red maple. Maples are one of the few trees that have OPPOSITE leaf arrangement. Plus, white mulberry trees are known to be messy neighbors, and the species' male trees emit pollen notorious for triggering allergies. i don't think many would find it desirable to have those in a lawn or garden setting.chueh is asking for information about existing trees and not wanting to know this to help with a decision for selecting a tree to plant but the link in the above post would provide some study data to consider for doing that. Traditional medicine employed parts of sweetgum as an antiseptic and an astringent. This "trimmed" top helps distinguish the leaves from those of maples and sycamores. Cannot imagine that their beauty, in an autumn-foliage- starved land such as ours would not out weigh the nuisance of their prickle balls. Grows in a pyramidal shape, becoming more oval or rounded with age. Metal Print of Yellow autumn leaf isolated on a white background. Ginkgo. Random Image Link Script- By JavaScript Kit(http://www.javascriptkit.com) Leaf Shape: Slender with a pointed tip. They can also easily be incorporated into garden and flowerbed soil to help recharge depleted nutrient levels. It has unique red, yellow, and white springtime leaves that are distinct from other trees. The American sweetgum grows to a height of 6075' and a spread of 4050' at maturity. Several varieties, including the black maple and the canyon maple, Acer grandidentatum, contain sweet sap that can be converted to sugar or syrup, in addition to the sap of the well-known Acer saccharum, or sugar maple. The tree itself was first noticed and recorded by the historian Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1542. Female oak flowers are relatively small and . Additionally, eucalyptus trees have many commercial for their wood and are used to create paper. Mo, Th, Fr, Sa: 10 a.m. 5 p.m. https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/global/tag/commonly-confused/. Each lobe is less than four inches in size. Tree size: This slow-growing tree attains a height of 30 to 50 feet and a width of 20 to 30 feet. Nature is full of variations; theres plenty of beauty without intent to mock us!. Where the bark is not smooth, it is usually rough and flaky, resembling a layer of broken scales. Uses for sweet gum tree: The sweet gum is a perfect choice for parks, large lots, and street plantings (as long as the tree's massive roots are not in the way). These leaves are small, and will easily . The Oriental sweet gum thrives in USDA zones 7 - 9 and grows between 20 and 30 ft. (6 - 10 m) tall. Sweet gum tree leaves have five to seven pointed lobes, and their shape will remind you of a star. On the other hand, maple trees produce food for other animals but dont produce much edible material themselves. Their waxy leaves also tend to take much longer to compost as well. Sycamore, yellow-poplar, and sweet gum trees share a similar broadleaf structure. The trident maple's leaves turn yellow, orange or reddish in the fall. The leaves of sweet gum are palmate like maple but the fruits are quite different. and they have an opposite leaf arrangement. Luo, Zidong, et al. The common name Sweet Gum comes from the sweet tasting and gummy consistency of its resin. Other trees with maple-like leavesthe sycamore, sweetgum, and yellow-poplarhave leaves that are alternate in arrangement. With that in mind, todays article is all about knowing which of those falling leaves are good for composting, and which are best to use in moderation, or not at all. Bark is brown to gray, very rough with deep grooves and narrow, slightly scaly ridges. Considered a pioneer species, the sweetgum tree can grow beyond 100 feet and is often found in the aftermath of a clearcut. The leaves are star-shaped and sometimes confused with maple leaves, but careful examination shows the difference. Lara Milligan is the Natural Resources Agent for UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County. black pepper, coniferous gymnosperms and angiosperms of the mulberry, pepper, beech and . CREATIVE. Always shred leaves before adding to a compost pile. They eventually drop to the ground before Spring, and they are infamously known for their sharp woody hornlike projections that make walking barefoot beneath a Sweet Gum tree an ill-advised endeavor. This article may contain affiliate links. /* Sweetgums love water. The alternate leaves are maple-like or star-shaped. When you cut into the trunk, you see the wood is light, fine-textured, and uniform. Maple trees have shiny dark green leaves that are oval-shaped with uneven edges. Sweetgum tree bark looks light gray with vertical fissured ridges. Sweet Gum Trees. Summer leaves are a dark green with a high-gloss appearance, but the most spectacular part of this tree is the fall foliage with many shades of yellow, orange, bright red, purple or scarlet that may appear on the same branch. Growing 60 to 70 feet tall and 45 feet wide, the sweetgum tree has an oval or . Sweet Gums grow quite tall- 75 ft . Red Flowering Gum Tree, named for its scarlet red . Maple leaves have higher levels of nitrogen and calcium, which of course, are both perfect for plants, and a compost pile. The downside to growing a sweetgum tree is the seed pods. Though humans enjoy the sweets produced by sweet gum trees, other creatures dont eat its seeds or leaves. Except for the difference in their seeds that noki pointed out they do appear to have some similarities thanks to a similar leaf shape and excellent fall color. Tu, We: 10 a.m. 7 p.m. Examine the leaf. Lara earned her Bachelors and Masters degree in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida and is a graduate of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute. I have several baby sweetgums. This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. All leaves have a tendency to bind together when left whole. Search from Sweet Gum Leaf stock photos, pictures and royalty-free images from iStock. Subscribe to UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County Blog. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are attracted by the sweet sap, evidence of their visitation can be noted by rows of small holes marking the trunk. In fact, it is one of the most pH-tolerant of all trees, thriving equally well in acid or alkaline conditions. //-->. Even more, lignin has a significant impact to the nitrogen levels in your finished compost, and the soil you will use your compost in. Twigs: Most Red Maple twigs appear to be slender and glossy. For a while I thought some of the saplings growing beneath them were either Red or Silver/White Maple, only to discover that they were Sweetgum. When it comes to the best of the best, maple leaves are certainly at the top of the list. Todays comparison focuses on how to tell apart red maple (Acer rubrum) from sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). The remaining trees were subsequently placed between the wall of names and the western overlook. Maple trees commonly have leaves with pointed lobes and with deep indentations between the lobes. Sweet gum leaves turn a mix of red, orange and yellow, often on the same tree. Mature leaves have a whitish appearing. Also called star-leaved gum, gumtree, and alligator-wood, this moderately-sized deciduous tree is common in the eastern United States, and can be found in small numbers in Mexico and as far south as Nicaragua. Leaves are alternate, simple, oval-elliptical, and lack teeth. In summer they are shiny dark green above and downy below. The fruit matures in late summer and persists through the fall/winter. Updated: 00/04/25 Maple Leaves. Sweet potato leaves. (Zones 5-9) Although the leaves have a similar shape to some maple leaves, a quick check of the leaf growth pattern can confirm the tree's identity.