American Sweet Gum Tree Seeds

This is a medium to fast growing tree averaging 2 to 3 feet per year in moist soil 1 to 2 feet per year in dry soil.

American sweet gum tree seeds. Distinguishing characteristics are the spiky fruits and the star shaped leaves that put on a show in the fall. Sweet gum bark and leaves have some but the highest concentration is in the infertile seeds. The american sweetgum trees are classified as liquidambar styraciflua according to plant taxonomy. This is a great tree for lawns parks or as a street tree.

Adults despise them as well because they can roll underfoot and cause a fall especially on paved surfaces. Place the sweetgum seeds inside a quart sized sealable plastic bag filled with 1 cup of moistened perlite. It can t be too hard because we have little sweet gum sprouts all over the place. The tree prefers moist slightly acidic soil but.

Prefers deep moist slightly acid soil full sun. Children call them gumballs or stickerballs and it s rare to find a child with a sweetgum growing nearby that hasn t had an unpleasant experience with the spiky pods. This is not related to the eucalyptus trees which are sometimes called gum trees. I have some around here and it is time to collect the seeds and try to start some seedlings.

It is also not related to the black gum nyssa sylvatica. Birth control injections for sweet gum trees. Department of agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 to 9 in full sun. Press the seeds into the perlite.

A common deciduous tree in the united states is the american sweetgum. Interestingly sweet gum tea was an herbal treatment for the flu and the cherokee made a tea out of the bark. Store the bag inside a refrigerator for one to three. Liquidambar styraciflua rotundiloba is a sterile non fruiting culitivar of sweetgum that does not produce the famous spiky seed pods commonly called gumballs.

The sweet gum s primary liability according to the makers of this list are the thousands of spiny brown seed balls gum balls if you will that it casts upon the ground around it. I have admired how massively enormous american sweet gum trees can grow. Sweet gum trees are native to the eastern u s but grow well throughout u s. The star anise pod is about 7 shikimic acid the pine needles 3 and the sweet gum 1 7 to 3.

The infertile seeds found in each of the sweet gum s compound seed capsules are a naturally occurring source of shikimic acid one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of tamiflu. According to the lazy landscaper these hard brown spiky balls that can create some serious hazards.