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Plant of the Week
Sweetgum
In certain parts of the state, when I give my tree talks suggesting planting
sweetgum as a shade tree, it evokes murmurs of disapproval from the crowd. This
disapproval usually stems from painful and deep-seated childhood memories of
tender feet being punctured by sweetgum balls.
Newcomers to sweetgum country usually have tales of sweetgum balls being
impossible to compost, chew up with a lawn mower or even effectively rake up in
their copious quantity. Even the most artistically inclined amongst us can build
only so many wreaths, bowls and other crafts from the durable little balls. The
state’s thriving potpourri market seems to have scarcely dented our sweetgum
ball wealth.
Yet, the sweetgum does have merit as a shade tree.
It grows quickly in heavy clay soils where more finicky trees give up and die.
As a young tree, it has an oval form and reaches 40 feet quickly. Old trees in
good sites will be three times as tall. The leaves are star shaped and the size
of a ladies hand with good fall color that tends towards the red, orange and
maroon shades. Were it not for the production of the golf ball-sized fruit,
which begin appearing when the tree is about 10 years old, the plant would make
an ideal landscape tree.
The presence of an American species of sweetgum was first recorded in 1519 when
Spanish soldiers observed a ceremony between Cortez and Montezuma in which
liquid-amber was mixed with tobacco before smoking. Liquid-amber had long been
known in Europe as an incense, as base for perfumes or salves and as an herbal
remedy for various ailments. The material in European markets was from stands of
the Oriental sweetgum growing in the mountains of southern Turkey and gathered
by wandering nomads.
The American sweetgum ranges from New Jersey south to Mexico mostly staying in
the low country or along streams and rivers. It is found throughout Arkansas,
but probably was introduced into the Ozark and Ouachita mountains after European
settlement. It has never been an important timber tree, being primarily used for
crates and pallets.
Gum production in the US has been sporadic. During the Civil War, southern
doctors used it as a dressing for wounds and as a salve for skin ailments. In
the rural South, it was used as a substitute for chewing gum. Commercial sources
for perfumery came from the Orient. During WW II, the Taiwanese sources were cut
off and Clarke County, Ala., became the domestic source for the gum.
Young trees were tapped by wounding the bark as soon as the tree had completely
leafed out. The sap emerges as a yellowish brown liquid that slowly hardens into
a rosin in the presence of air. This rosin was scraped into buckets and
carefully heated before being strained and bottled. After the war years, the
industry again moved to the Orient, and few remember the ways of processing this
sweet smelling but bitter tasting gum.
For those wishing to use the sweetgum as a landscape tree, there are three ways
of dealing with the balls.
The easiest is acceptance of the inevitable and develop a mind-set accepting the
ball much as one accepts that ticks and chiggers are a part of Arkansas summers.
The second approach is to plant a variety called the Fruitless Sweetgum which is
available from local nurseries. The final method is to use a spray in the spring
which knocks off the sweetgum balls before they develop. While spraying is a
temporary fix, it is a poor long-term solution because it must be repeated
annually.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
September 1, 2000
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