Identifying Characteristics
| Size/Form: | Sweetgum is a large tree that reaches 80 to 150 feet in height, 3 to 5 feet in diameter. It is characterized as having a buttressed base with a pyramidal or oval-shaped crown. |
| Leaves: | Leaves are simple, alternate, and deciduous. The leaves are star-shaped with 5 to 7 deeply palmate, pointed lobes. The leaf apex is long-tapered. The leaf bases are flattened or slightly heart-shaped. Leaf margins are finely serrate. Each leaf is a shiny dark green above and paler below with small hairs. Leaf petioles are slender, often 4 inches or more in length. The leaves are unpleasantly aromatic if crushed or bruised. In autumn, the leaves turn red, orange, yellow, and purple. |
| Twigs: | The twigs are slender to moderately stout, yellowish to reddish-brown, and are aromatic. They are more or less covered with corky outgrowths, which may become large and wing-like after a season or two. The pith is homogeneous and star-shaped. |
| Bark: | The bark on the sweetgum tree is gray and deeply furrowed, separated by narrow scaly ridges. |
| Flowers: | The flowers are monoecious and are in head-like clusters. Female flowers produce many ovules, but only a few are fertilized to become seeds. |
| Fruit: | The fruit is a spherical, woody head composed of many capsules. Each capsule has a pair of pointed projections ("beaks") that spread apart at maturity to release the contents. The true seeds are winged and wind-dispersed when they leave the capsules. Any remaining, unfertilized ovules are unwinged and rain down from the tree, providing food for wildlife. The fruits mature in autumn and persist on the tree throughout winter. When they fall, they persist on the ground as a spiny layer of mulch. |
Similar Trees on the Florida 4-H Forest Ecology Contest List:
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