A little sweet on Sweetgum

I'm a total nerd for color. So I'm sure you could guess that fall is my favorite time of year because of this. Spring is a close second, but I can't get over the wonderful colors of fall.

Earlier this fall, I found myself wandering around my neighborhood and taking a lot of pictures of trees and anything that struck me as particularly interesting. Over and over, I found myself photographing Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) trees because of their brilliant colors and their fun little star-shaped leaves. What I also find particularly fun about these trees is that they have "balls" that they drop. These balls remind me of Velcro in that they're a bit prickly, and especially when they first fall, they have a tendency to get caught on fabric and other soft materials.

I wasn't really familiar with Sweetgum trees until I lived in Athens, OH a while. After spending a few years working on my education at Ohio University, a realized how prevalent these trees really were in Southern Ohio. And, I couldn't help but notice how colorful they always seem compared to other trees.

According to the Peterson Eastern Tree Guide, these trees were named because of the sap they sometimes exude. Apparently some people actually chew on this, hence sweet gum. The Peterson Guide also explains that Sweetgum lumber is often used in furniture making as well as other common wooden items.

While some people avoid using these trees as landscaping material because of the balls they drop, I've actually seen these seeds collected and strung together in such a way that they make cute Christmas tree decorations or even wreaths. I guess it just depends on whether or not such tree droppings will annoy or delight you, but I know I'd pay a neighbor kid a few dollars to pick up the droppings just so I could enjoy their great fall color and shade qualities.