What does the sweet gum tree look like in fall?

For fall color, sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is hard to beat. Its glossy green, star-shaped leaves turn fiery shades of red, orange, yellow and purple in the fall.

What color do sweet gum trees turn in the fall?

In autumn sweetgum leaves turn brilliant orange and red, intermingled with purple and brown. Further south, leaves may remain on the trees in the fall with minimal color change. The nondescript female flowers of the sweetgum appear in the spring.

Do sweetgum trees lose their leaves?

The sweetgum is a fast-growing tree that develops a significant taproot that tolerate high moisture levels in soil. It is used for its lumber, and is one of the most common sources of hardwood and plywood, but also produces spectacular colors as it drops its leaves in the fall.

What do the leaves look like on a sweetgum tree?

Features star-shaped leaves with 5 lobes (occasionally 7) that are lustrous medium green in color, toothed along the margins and 4–7½” in length. Provides brilliant fall color, with leaves turning vibrant shades of yellow, orange, red and purple.

How do you tell if a tree is a sweet gum?

To identify sweet gum trees, look for large star-shaped lobed green leaves that turn spectacular autumn red, yellow, and orange colors. Sweetgum tree bark looks light gray with vertical fissured ridges. Spiky gumballs are another identifying feature of sweetgum trees.

Do sweet gum balls fall year round?

Just like leaves, they must fall, so the tree can prep for new growth. The only difference is sweetgum balls drop all fall and winter.

Do gum trees lose their leaves in winter?

Eucalypts are evergreens. Unlike many northern hemisphere trees that are deciduous in harsh times such as winter, eucalypts have leaves all year.

Why do people hate sweet gum trees?

Other folks dislike the tree because it doesn’t make good firewood, since it is difficult to split and rots quickly. Likewise, some woodworkers aren’t fond of sweetgum because the wood is difficult to dry straight and unsuitable for carpentry work.

Is sweet gum evergreen?

A sweet gum is a deciduous tree in the witch hazel family that ranges in height from 60 to 100 feet and has a narrow oval canopy. The Liquidambar styraciflua growth rate is moderate to rapid, putting on height at a rate of 1 to 4 feet a year for the first five to 10 years and 12 to 15 inches per year thereafter.

Is a sweetgum an oak tree?

Although certainly related because they’re both flowering plants, sweetgum trees and oak trees belong to different plant families. Botanists place sweetgum in the witch hazel family, while oaks are assigned to the beech family. Oak trees (Quercus spp.)

What are the brown spiky balls that fall from trees?

If you’ve encountered some round, spiny balls under a tree or maybe still on the plant, and you’re wondering what it could be, it’s likely one of several options: buckeye/horsechestnut (Aesculus), chestnut (Castanea), or sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).

What does a sweet gum tree look like 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. Sweetgum trees are identified by their colorful lobed leaves that can be orange, red, yellow, or purple colors in the fall.

Are sweetgum trees worth planting in the fall?

The autumn show continues into late fall and early winter, and these stately shade trees are worth planting just to enjoy this fall color. Birds, chipmunks, and squirrels love sweetgum trees, which provide them with food, shelter, and nesting sites.

What is the common name for a sweet gum tree?

Other common names for the sweetgum tree include liquid amber tree and sugar gum tree. The spiky balls or gumballs on the sweetgum tree help to identify this genus. The sweetgum tree ball looks similar to sycamore tree fruit. For some gardeners, the spiked gumballs can be a nuisance in the fall.

What zone do sweet gum trees grow in?

American sweetgum trees are best grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. They are fairly drought-tolerant trees once mature. Grow them in full sun and in loamy soil that is on the acidic side. Fertilize them occasionally with compost.