The inner bark produces a fragrant resin, called American styrax or storax, which is used in cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, and tobacco, and as a fixative in lacquers and adhesives. The lumber has been used for cabinetry, furniture, flooring, and interior finish. (Do not try to give these people a holiday wreath made out of glitter-covered sweet gum balls.) Indeed, many people passionately dislike the fruits, which can clog drains, interfere with lawn mowing, and are painful if stepped on with bare feet. The many spiny fruits, however, can be a messy problem for high-traffic areas, and on sloping sidewalks they can even create hazardous footing. James is called the “sweet gum capital of Missouri” for its many streets lined with the tree. Sweet gum is popular for landscaping, prized for its beautiful fall color. Although it produces small clusters of inconspicuous flowers in the spring, it does not (usually) set fruit. styraciflua 'Rotundiloba', does not bear the spiny fruits that many people object to in a public landscape. Similar species: One cultivated variety of sweet gum, L. ![]() ![]() Twigs are reddish- or yellowish-brown becoming gray, aromatic, often with corky wings on second-year’s growth pores raised, dark.įlowers April–May, with male and female flowers on the same twig male flowers greenish-yellow, on an upright stalk in several tight, rounded clusters female flowers in a single, drooping, round cluster about ½ inch in diameter.įruit matures in September–October, persists through winter light brown, globe-shaped, formed by the union of multiple individual fruits, hard, spiny due to numerous woody, hornlike projections, 1–1½ inches in diameter. ![]() Leaves are alternate, simple, star-shaped, with 5 (sometimes 7) lobes, 3–6 inches wide, deeply lobed margin toothed, tips long-pointed leaves slightly aromatic when bruised.īark is brown to gray, very rough with deep grooves and narrow, slightly scaly ridges. Sweet gum is a large tree with a long, cylindrical trunk, pyramidal crown, and corky wings on branches and twigs.
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