Examining the leaves more closely can help you identify them. Red Flowering Gum Tree, named for its scarlet red . Have a baby variegated (green and white leaves) doing really well. It's non-offensive, and distinctive. All leaves have a tendency to bind together when left whole. Here is to making the most of your autumn leaves, and to building healthy, nutrient filled compost with leaves! Vector illustration. Botanical Name: Acer saccharum nigrum It grows in moist flat areas in association with pin oak or sycamore. Stems often have corky and attractive wings during the second year. Between two websites about maple trees, more than 30 varieties are listed as growing in the U.S., from the very large black, or rock, maple, Acer nigrum, to the small and dwarf Japanese maple, Acer palmatum. Although native to eastern North America, it is widely planted throughout the continent in its range. One thing is for sure, when it comes to composting, all leaves are not the same and that is why it is vital to know what leaves are best for composting, which should be used in moderation, and which varieties of leaves should be left out of your pile completely! The eucalyptus tree and leaves contain a toxin that can prohibit plant growth as well as prohibiting seeds from germinating. Pro: The wood has many uses, including flooring, lumber, and paper pulp among other things. Early color changers, they turn bright scarlet or purple in late summer, well . Roundleaf sweetgum, or Liquidambar styraciflua rotundiloba,has star-shaped leaves with three to five lobes that have rounded tips. Fall Leaves. In addition, the bark has a strong scent and is used to make perfumes, essential oils, and medicines. Not only can the roots of black walnut trees be toxic to a whole slew of annuals and perennials, their leaves can as well. My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor. If you are looking for a large, long-lived yard tree, both maple and sweetgum are good choices. //specify random images below. Updated: 00/04/25 by Lara Milligan The leaves of a sweetgum tree are dark green. Children have chewed the resinous sap like chewing gum. Its shape is pyramidal, becoming more rounded with age. Their leaves are also soft to the touch and have a distinctive smell. My front yard is a blazing glory thanks to the sweetgums in mine and my neighbors yards5 altogether. Each leaf is on its own layer and is easily separated from the other leaves and from the white background and shadows. Thanks. Lara earned her Bachelors and Masters degree in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida and is a graduate of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute. Each lobe is less than four inches in size. It is native to the southeastern US. Cat; 2007 Wood-Mizer EG200 Twin Blade Edger; Woodmaster 718 Molder/Planer; Stihl MS460 and MS362 Chainsaws; 2011 John Deere 5065 with JD 553 Loader. The green spiny fruit clusters become dry and brown during the late Summer. The fruit matures in late summer and persists through the fall/winter. Do sweetgum do the same? As you will see below, one of the common denominators of good leaves versus bad leaves is their lignin level. Sweet gum trees bloom with inconspicuous, yellowish-green flowers in the spring that turn to seedpods which are often called gumballs in the fall. 1, July 2017, p. 6323. sweet gum: [noun] a North American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) of the witch-hazel family with palmately lobed glossy green leaves, corky twigs, a round spiny brown fruit cluster, and hard wood. The fruit of sweetgum looks nothing like the fruit of red maple. Personnaliser mon exprience l'aide de cookies, Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers, Outdoor Lighting & Audio/Visual Specialists. The American sweetgum grows in acidic, loamy, moist, sandy, well-drained, wet and clay soils. The name sweetgum comes from the Native Americans who would peel back the bark, scrape off the resin, and chew the resin as one would chew gum. The seeds are dispersed by the wind, birds, or animals. From a distance these tree species can easily be mistaken for one another, but on closer inspection there are plenty of ways to tell them apart. (Zones 5-9) If you have fruit in-hand, telling them apart is a breeze. Sweetgum leaves are palmate, or flat and hand-shaped, with five or sometimes seven pointed lobes with serrated edges. imagelinks[5]="https://woodmizer.com/Store/Shop/Sawmill-Options/CookieMizer-Clamping-Jig?utm_source=forestryforum.com&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=cookiemizer&utm_term=2021-03-09&utm_content=800x160" Sweetgum fruit is a round, spikey and woody ball of capsules that is about one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter. Sweetgum fruit is a round, spikey and woody ball of capsules that is about one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter. In addition, oak leaves fall on the acidic side of the spectrum. The leaves of sweet gum are palmate like maple but the fruits are quite different. Although the tree is named sycamore, this tree species is in the genus Acer which means it is one of the types of maple trees. Alice Slusher Replied September 07, 2015, 12:59 PM EDT. 1. Tu, We: 10 a.m. 7 p.m. Hard to tell which Maple from the immature leaves. Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark. But maple leaves also have another big advantage for compost piles in that they are extremely low in lignin. The leaf margin of red maples are coarsely toothed to entire (smooth) while the margins of sweetgum are finely toothed. we don't have the autumn display many of you get. myimages2[1]="../../../images/top-banner/behindtheforum.jpg" Posted: February 20, 2019. myimages[6]="../../../images/top-banner/EZ-junior.jpg" Sometimes we call these winged samaras. Thank you for all your input. Phenology: From late March to early April, the flowers, fruits and leaves emerge. There is actually an acronym to help you narrow it down significantly: MAD, which stands for Maple, Ash, Dogwood. But maybe best of all, the leaves of autumn, in all of their abundance, are the perfect addition for building an incredible fall compost pile. This tree is often overlooked in the world of deer hunting. Sweetgums love water. They can also be found scattered on the ground once they have dried and fallen. "The american sweetgum we generally see is "Liquidambar Styraciflua" to scientists. Politique d'Utilisation des Cookies de Houzz. Leaves are alternate, simple, oval-elliptical, and lack teeth. Like maple leaves, sycamore leaves are divided into three to five shallow lobes. They are vigorous shade trees from the southeastern United States with star-shaped leaves that smell sweetly resinous if scratched. In fact, there are areas close to my neighborhood where the sidewalks are currently closed as the city goes through its endless process of removing broken concrete, cutting roots, leveling and re-laying concrete. Is a sweetgum tree the same as a maple? Female oak flowers are relatively small and .