![]() Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Mike Leigher for providing the wood sample of this wood species. Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, and is reported by the IUCN as being a species of least concern.Ĭommon Uses: Veneer, plywood, furniture (speaker/acoustic cabinets), interior trim, boxes/crates, and turned objects.Ĭomments: Not to be confused with various Australian species in the Eucalyptus genus that are also referred to as “red gum.” What are sweetgum trees used for Used as an ornamental shade tree, sweetgums offer a hardy option to homeowners, but do shed gumballs that can be a trip hazard. ![]() Sapgum is widely available at low cost, while Redgum is more uncommon, and prices can be in the mid range for a domestic hardwood, with prices for figured and/or quartersawn pieces costing more. Pricing/Availability: Because the sapwood is so wide, only older mature trees will yield the darker Redgum heartwood lumber. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information. Responds moderately well to steam bending.Īllergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Sweetgum has been reported to cause skin irritation. Liquidambar Worplesdon is a selected variety of sweet gum chosen for its reliability in producing fiery shades of red, orange and yellow in the autumn (. (After initial drying, distortion is significantly less, but the wood still experiences an appreciable amount of movement in service.) Turns, glues, stains, and finishes well. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves (similar to maple leaves) and its hard, spiked fruits. Sweetgum is known to warp and distort badly during initial drying. The American Sweetgum Tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) is a beautiful tree that is native to the southeastern United States. Sweetgum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. Workability: Generally easy to work, though planing can produce tearout due to interlocked grain. Rot Resistance: Heartwood sections are rated as moderately durable to non-durable regarding decay resistance, while the sapwood is perishable. Good natural luster, this wood has sometimes been called “satin walnut.”Įndgrain: Diffuse-porous small pores in no specific arrangement, very numerous exclusively solitary and/or in radial multiples of 2-3 tyloses common growth rings indistinct rays not visible without lens parenchyma not visible with hand lens. Grain/Texture: Grain is interlocked, with a very fine, uniform texture. Shrinkage: Radial: 5.3%, Tangential: 10.2%, Volumetric: 15.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.9Ĭolor/Appearance: Wide sapwood is whitish to light pink or tan color, and is sometimes referred to as “sapgum” or “sweetgum.” Heartwood is gray to reddish brown, and is commonly referred to as “redgum.” Heartwood with darker black streaks is called “figured redgum.” Quartersawn pieces have a ribbon-stripe appearance. ![]() Sweet gum is tolerant of soil types but prefers moist soils in full sun.-A.Common Name(s): Sweetgum, Redgum, Sapgum, satin walnut Several cultivars are available from nurseries. It is commonly planted as an ornamental for its fall color. Sweetgum is a fast growing tree whose wood is used for pallets, inexpensive furniture, veneer, and barrels. It has been collected for use as a candy or gum as an additive to soaps, perfumes, and incense as an adhesive or lacquer and as a flavoring for smoking tobacco. The common name of Sweet Gum derives from the resin that exudes from the bark the resin is technically known as storax and Americans enjoy chewing on the. The sweet fragrant resin from the trunk of Sweetgum is known as American Styrax. The seed are small, tan in color, and apically winged. Female flowers are produced in pendant heads. The heads are arranged in pedunculate racemes. Male flowers are produced in heads composed of many stamens. Leaves turn red, purple, orange, or yellow (on the same or different trees) before falling. The leaves are glabrous and fragrant when crushed. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, palmately 5-7 lobed, with glandular serrate margins. It is a large tree to 120 feet in height. Sweetgum is highly adaptable and occurs in a wide range of habitats from bottomland hardwood forests to old fields. Sweetgum is a large native deciduous tree in the Sweetgum family (Altingiaceae).
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