Sweet gum trees are large; growing up to 100 feet tall. Their leaves are shaped like a star and they have tiny, green round flowers. In the fall, the leaves turn orange and red.
Sweet gums don't begin producing seeds until they are at least 20 years old, so if you see a tree with seed balls, you know it's been around a long time.
Sap comes out of cuts in the bark and sap clumps were chewed by Native Americans and pioneers. They would peel off the bark and then scrape off the sap. The sap is supposed to have a sweet flavor that lasts a long time, but I haven't tried it.
Sweet gum wood is used for boats, toys, boxes, baskets, cabinets, fuel, and for fine paper. Trees are often planted along water to help prevent erosion.
I took this photo of sweet gum balls that had fallen on a sidewalk.
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Comments
Sue L - What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
When I was in Girl Scout my mom was a leader and we covered balls with parafin put in tuna can lit the balks covered tuna can with large coffee can and cooked our pancakes eggs etc
BarbRad - A friend had a pecan tree (hard shell) in her back yard here in Texas. She had a similar tool that looked like the nut wizard but was quite old. It worked like a charm. Nut wizards are a little expensive, but there's nothing to wear out, so you could use it for many years. I've picked up black walnuts in Illinois and Tennessee by hand, but only filling a plastic grocery bag at a time, so that wasn't too bad.
Wow! I never thought of using the gumballs for snail control or mulch. I'm hoping I can talk my husband into the nut wizard. It would sure save my back when harvesting walnuts.
I have seen these ugly sticky balls on the ground. Now I know what they are. The tree is pretty in the fall.
Oh it's fun to see and read about these, they grew along the streets in the development where I grew up and we as kids used to throw them at each other.
You're right about being careful where to plant these trees. My aunt and uncle lived in a small town in central Illinois and many of the homes have sweet gum trees planted near the road where the balls fall on the sidewalk - not a good idea.
It sounds like those sweet gum balls can be very useful around the garden! Like the idea of using them to fill up the bottom of pots and also for heavy clay soil. However, from what you and others are saying the trees seem better planted away from areas near paths or where lots of people walk regularly.
Maybe he gets fiber from the sweet gum balls. When they get old, the spikes aren't sharp anymore, so I assume they're not hurting him. I've never heard of dogs eating sweet gum balls, but I have heard of them eating acorns.
My dog loves eating these things. I guess they are ok to eat. He has been eating them for a year now. ????