However, hardy sweetgum trees are also tolerant of drought and can grow well in wet ground.
Sweet gum tree full#
Sweetgum trees grow in full sun and well-draining moist soil. Additionally, children can get injured by sharp spikes. The hard, woody balls can roll if you stand on them, causing injury if you fall. For some gardeners, the spiked gumballs can be a nuisance in the fall. The sweetgum tree ball looks similar to sycamore tree fruit. The spiky balls or gumballs on the sweetgum tree help to identify this genus. Other common names for the sweetgum tree include liquid amber tree and sugar gum tree. The common name redgum comes from the spectacular red color of the leaves in the fall and the reddish-yellow color of the tree’s sap. The scientific name- Liquidambar-also refers to this yellow sap and means liquid amber. Sweetgum trees get their name from the sweet, sticky, resinous substance the oozes from the cut trunk. Sweetgum trees are relatively fast-growing trees that reach a mature height between 32 and 130 ft.
Sweetgums are ornamental deciduous trees that are native to North America, Asia, and the Mediterranean. There are 15 species of sweetgum trees in the genus Liquidambar and the family Altingiaceae. Descriptions and pictures of popular sweetgum trees will help identify these deciduous landscape trees. This article is a guide to identifying sweetgums trees. Other common trees in the Liquidambar genus include the Sweetgum ‘Slender Silhouette’ ( Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’) and Fruitless Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Rotundiloba’). It is a beautiful shade or lawn landscaping tree. The American sweetgum is a tall ornamental tree with its colorful fall leaves and rounded pyramidal crown. The most popular sweetgum tree is the American sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua) which is also called gumball tree. The characteristic feature of many sweetgum varieties is their spiky balls measuring up to 2” (5 cm) across.
Sweetgum trees are identified by their colorful lobed leaves that can be orange, red, yellow, or purple colors in the fall.
Sweetgum trees (botanical name Liquidambar) are a species of large deciduous flowering trees with large lobed leaves, small globular flowers, and seed-containing spiky gumballs. Follow him at /JasonNevelSJR.Email Pinterest Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mahoney said some residents prefer not to have another tree planted where the sweet gum had been. A replacement tree can be planted in a different spot, if the resident chooses. Trees considered safety hazards - near sewer inlets, if they are uprooting sidewalks where many people walk or that are obstructing streetlights - will be given priority, he said.Ī public works crew will remove the entire tree, including the stump, and will backfill the hole. Mahoney said the city this year sent letters to about half of the applicants, asking them to pay the $250 fee. There are an estimated 2,000 throughout Springfield. Through the pilot program, the city will remove a sweet gum tree on public right of way if the property owner is willing to pay $250, which includes the cost of a replacement tree.Īfter inspecting 338 sweet gums that residents requested for removal, city arborists determined that 296 were eligible to be taken out. Proponents say removing the trees will help reduce sewer clogs, lessen the need for sidewalk and street repair and cut down on injuries from people stepping on them and hurting themselves. Sweet gums, often called “gumball” trees, are a nuisance because they annually drop hundreds of round, prickly seed capsules that can be easy to slip on when walking and are difficult to clean up. “The (spring) storms and number of branches down set us back from where we had hoped to be, but we will continue taking down trees and should be complete sometime in 2014,” Mahoney said. Public works director Mark Mahoney said the process isn’t as far as long as he’d hoped, but the goal is to continue removing trees through the fall and finish the program next year. There are fewer of those pesky sweet gum trees in Springfield these days, but still far more than most people would prefer.Ī list provided by the Public Works Department shows that 23 sweet gum trees have been removed this year since a pilot program was announced last November.
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