[sweet gum|Sweetgum] [Tree]: [red gum|Liquidambar styraciflua]

Our yard has two large sweetgums, and several [sapling|young ones] growing in the [scrub]; one has [shoot|shot up] from the exposed [root] of an older tree. [Gum tree]s used to be a favorite hiding spot for my [teddy bear|special toy] [koala], due to a linguistic serendipity by which they share the same [common name] as the [Australia]n [eucalyptus] trees he was always [homesick] for.

[North America]n sweetgum trees are not at all related to the other sort of gum tree, of course. They are in the same family ([Hamamelidaceae]) as [witch hazel], [dicot|flowering] [deciduous] trees with related species in [Asia] and [South America]. The common name comes from the resinous [sap], which was apparently instrumental in the invention of [polystyrene], and has been used as a [storax|cheap substitute] for everything [resin] has ever been used in, from [perfume] to [the story of caulk|waterproofing]. Presumably, this [ichor|sap] is also the source of the barely-[Latinate] [genus] name [linnaean classification|Liquidambar]. Also, the sweet taste led to the gummy sap being used as [chewing gum] in early America, although I know of no modern [root beer|food products] which use it. I've also never seen a sweetgum [sap bleed|bleed], being toward the northern edge of its range, but handling the fallen [gumball]s in large numbers will make your hands sticky, and leave them smelling [resinous] and slightly sweet.

The gumballs are the [fruit] of the sweetgum tree, green when still on the tree and turning pine-needle-orange before they fall in the [autumn]. They are spike-covered spheres a bit more than an [inch] in [diameter], and are largely indestructible, usually visible in the [leaf litter|litter] below the tree year-round, though the older ones will be gray and have lost most of their spikes. They're prickly, numerous, annoying, and good for absolutely nothing, unless you want to set a [caltrop|trap] so that people walking in your yard will trip and break their ankles - gumballs are very good for that. They're also occasionally put to use by desperate [scoutmaster|crafters] - [Halloween] spiders and [Christmas tree ornament]s are what I've seen most often - but long-term, they're far from [durable], and I don't recommend them in anything meant to last. Up close, though, they have an [elegant] [mathematical] [fractal|beauty], and in their pointed spherical [symmetry], they look as if they belong [diatom|in the world] under a [microscope].

Sweetgum [flower]s are also round, small green puffballs on droopy stems. The [stamenate|male flowers] fall to the ground as clusters about the size and color of [pea]s, organized in small bunches like grapes, looking like [simile|miniature pom-poms]. They crumble into tiny grains when touched. [mud pies|As a child] I used to mush large numbers of them into water to make "[pea soup]" for my dolls.

The leaves are [star-leafed gum|distinctively] [star-shaped], with five or occasionally seven well-formed points, and grow [alternate|alternately], which is apparently an important way to distinguish them from [maple]s, as the points are sometimes more ambiguous. The leaves turn bright yellow to deep [burgundy] red in autumn, and tend to drop early and quickly without drying out, leaving gumballs still visible all over the [winter|bare branches].

Sweetgum wood wasn't often used for [lumber] until the early [20th century], but with [kiln-dried|changes] in the [lumber industry] it's now the country's top source of [plywood], and the tightly-[grain]ed reddish wood is also sold as a [hardwood], usually under [satin walnut|more] [hazelwood|elegant] [circassian|names]. Sweetgum is a very common tree all over the southeastern US, from [Pennsylvania] to eastern [Texas], especially on [old-field|roadsides and streambanks]. In the Middle Atlantic and Southeast regions it is an important component of the oak-gum and oak-gum-cypress [forest communities] that cover large areas of land. It grows to 100 feet high, with a spreading [crown], and is often planted around the country as a fast-growing [shade tree], though I [raking leaves|question] whether it's worth having the gumballs all over the garden!

sweet gum (thing)