Low-Hanging Fruit: A Sweetgum Story
As this article is being written, fallen sweetgum leaves of all shades, tones, and hues of the seasonal color spectrum are harmonizing into a protective layer above Pleasant Run forest soils, weaving themselves into the fibers of their fellow forest comrades: Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, Sassafras albidum, and Acer negundo. Together, and along with their understory companions, the forest floor becomes a rainbow ensemble bespeckled by spiky sweetgum balls of the year before. Maybe you have memories of kicking the round sweetgum seed capsules down the block as an ennui-stricken youth coming home from a particularly grueling school day, watching as they skitter into storm drains and drainage covers, wondering where they would end up when the eventual underground waters did come to wash them yonder.
Just as maple and sycamore “helicopters” (samaras) behold a sense of wonderment to children, so do the overly conspicuous spherical fruits, affectionately here on out referred to as “gum balls”, belonging to North America’s only species within the genus, Liquidambar styraciflua.
With populations from as far north as Connecticut, to dense populations in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions, to scattered but prevalent communities as far south as Belize, Honduras and Guatemala, Liquidambar styraciflua can be found inhabiting moist streambanks, riverbeds, and clay-based hardwood forests prone to poor drainage. It’s heartening to envision children of all ages from all walks of life kicking gum balls down their streets, whether in Tarrytown or Tegucigalpa, commiserating about their days and allowing their curious minds to wonder about the geographical futures of their spiky, makeshift soccer balls.
Statistically, success rates of Liquidambar styraciflua seeds are relatively poor, often taking more than two full years to germinate if at all. It leads one to glean why the sheer amount of both new and persistent, craggly, rather-Lego-like-when-stepped-on-by-accident gum balls can be found from one year to the next. It is, after all, the species’ attempt to revive itself amongst a harsher-by-the-day world where invasive competitors abound. Still, wandering around a damp Mid-Atlantic forest floor in early November, I found myself encountering a not-insignificant number of sweetgum seedlings sown into the humic soil made so in part by its own many leaves from years prior.
While this underdog shade tree has been known to produce amber-colored resin, particularly in warmer parts of its range, which can be used as a gum substitute, its magnificent hardwood is what makes sweetgum economically significant. From plywood to furniture, veneer to cabinetry, the strength and durability of Liquidambar styraciflua wood makes it suitable not only as a long-standing majesty of the woodland or public park, but also as a timeless and functional member of the average household.
Liquidambar styraciflua, identified as one of the first flowering trees in fossil records alongside our favorite Magnolia spp. and Liriodendron tulipifera, has long maintained itself throughout the geological and climatic shifts of our planet, ensuring that despite meager germination rates, it can survive basically anything.
Our modern Liquidambar species likely arose during the Oligocene epoch, approximately 23-34 million years ago, with the most prominent distribution of the genus occurring during the warm, mesic Miocene epoch. This is great news for eco-conscious landscapers getting ahead of the shifting climates and hardiness zones: Liquidambar styraciflua, once thought to be found south of Pennsylvania, has begun to migrate northward in response to warmer temperatures.
Paleobotany aside, the sweetgum tree has long been a utilitarian in the Anthropocene, its fruits and bark used traditionally in both Traditional Chinese and Indigenous American medicines to treat stomach and skin conditions including diarrhea, dysentery, wounds, and coughs. Curious scientists have tested various phytoconstituents of sweetgum aerial parts in an attempt to prove these uses fruitful and not only confirmed the tree’s potential as an anti-inflammatory aid, but also as a potential derivative for anti-cancer phytochemicals. A 2022 study performed at Instituto de Pesquisa Pelé Pequeno Príncipe, Curitiba in Brazil showed that methanol extracts of Liquidambar styraciflua fruits indicated “high anti-tumor activity” and were found to have “great potential” in cancer treatment therapies of the future. You can read more on that study here (it’s free to the public!).
So perhaps the next time you find yourself annoyed by the spiky clusters loitering around your yard, think back to when you were a kid idly lolling your neighborhood spiky balls down the street, into your storm drains, and out into the world, and take solace in your appreciation of and contribution to a brighter, greener future.
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