Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
A southeastern tree with star-shaped leaves and spiky, round seed balls that make walking underfoot tricky.
- Type
- Hardwoods
- Leaves
- Lobed leaves
- Region
- Southeast, Northeast, Midwest & Plains
- Typical size
- 60–100 ft tall, with a trunk 2–3 ft across
- Range
- The southeastern United States and the mid-Atlantic, west to Texas and Missouri
- Look for it
- Fall, when leaves turn red, purple, and yellow
How to identify it
- Leaves are star-shaped, with five pointed lobes, and smell resinous when crushed.
- Fruits are spiny, round balls that hang on long stalks and litter the ground.
- Twigs often have corky, winged ridges.
- Bark is gray-brown and deeply furrowed.
Often confused with
Why it matters outdoors
- Birds and squirrels eat the seeds.
- Fair firewood that can be hard to split.
- The spiky seed balls are slippery and painful underfoot, so watch your step when carrying gear or walking barefoot in camp.
Field notes
Sweetgum is among the most colorful trees in the fall, with leaves ranging from yellow to deep purple on the same branch.
The spiky balls are a nuisance, but the leaves are among the easiest of any tree to recognize.
Related guides
This guide helps you recognize trees and avoid harmful plants. It does not teach foraging, and nothing here is advice to eat or use a wild plant. Identification from a drawing can be wrong, so check with a regional field guide or a local expert, such as your state forestry or extension service.