I rarely get to see the green ones. I usually find sweetgum tree balls after they've turned brown and fallen from the trees. Recently, I learned the green balls are full of shikimic acid which kills viruses. Copied the simple recipe to make a tincture from them. Take a look at this! It just might change your mind about this tree - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIqgqMF-hMo
@pusspup I did a search and found this "A kin of witch-hazel, sweetgum belongs to a minuscule genus of only four or five trees, the others found in Asia. The generic name, Liquidambar, means, literally, "liquid amber" and refers to the pleasant-tasting resin that the tree exudes when you peel away the deeply furrowed bark. It was once used commercially for making soaps, adhesives and drugs. And the sweetgum's dark, reddish-brown wood is valued as a veneer for fine furniture. In some areas, sweetgum is second only to oak in hardwood production.
Sweetgum is largely a tree of the Southeastern states, although its range stretches northward along the Atlantic coast into Connecticut. On rich alluvial soils, sweetgum can attain a height of 130 feet, usually growing in association with tuliptrees, hickories, oaks and bald cypress. In many southern towns, the species is as widely planted for shade as maples are in northern communities." https://www.audubon.org/news/the-liquid-amber-tree
@wakelys Thanks, Susan.
@shepherdmanswife Liquidambar styraciflua - but the only name I know them by is sweetgum tree.
@larrysphotos Thank you, Larry.
@kjarn Thank you, Kathy. Isn't it interesting that it looks like a virus and it fights them? =)
@danette LOL! Can't go barefoot around here because of snakes. =)
@corinnec Thank you very much, Corinne.
@pattyblue Thank you so much, Pat.
@ludwigsdiana Thank you, Diana.
@pusspup I did a search and found this "A kin of witch-hazel, sweetgum belongs to a minuscule genus of only four or five trees, the others found in Asia. The generic name, Liquidambar, means, literally, "liquid amber" and refers to the pleasant-tasting resin that the tree exudes when you peel away the deeply furrowed bark. It was once used commercially for making soaps, adhesives and drugs. And the sweetgum's dark, reddish-brown wood is valued as a veneer for fine furniture. In some areas, sweetgum is second only to oak in hardwood production.
Sweetgum is largely a tree of the Southeastern states, although its range stretches northward along the Atlantic coast into Connecticut. On rich alluvial soils, sweetgum can attain a height of 130 feet, usually growing in association with tuliptrees, hickories, oaks and bald cypress. In many southern towns, the species is as widely planted for shade as maples are in northern communities." https://www.audubon.org/news/the-liquid-amber-tree
@pamalama So do I. =)
@mittens Thank you, Marilyn.
@bigmxx Thanks, Michelle.
@k9photo Yes, I want to make the tincture so I need to get some green ones.
@craftymeg Thank you, Margaret.