Sweet Gum Tree Balls

You can make a.

Sweet gum tree balls. The infertile seeds of the sweet gum ball contain shikimic acid which is also contained in the same tree used to make tamiflu. Since sweet gum balls have an interesting shape they can add visual interest to a simple picture frame. By mid fall the balls are dead and seedless. The spiky clusters are actually balls of fruit with tiny seeds inside that birds and squirrels snack on.

As previously mentioned sweetgum balls are the fruit of a medium to large size tree 65 155 feet tall with a trunk up to 6 feet across that can live for an extremely long time up to 400 years. The round fruit balls are produced from fertilized flowers. This means that only one tree is needed for the flowers to be pollinated and a single tree can produce the spiky fruits even when another sweet gum tree is not in sight. You can make a crown from sweet gum balls by using.

The sweetgum tree liquidambar styraciflua produces an extremely spiked capsule containing one or two seeds in the summer. Just like leaves they must fall so the tree can prep for new growth. The only difference is sweetgum balls drop all fall and winter. Woodland crowns are a popular way to use outdoor findings.

As a monoecious plant a sweet gum bears male and female flowers. If you re up for some experimenting sweet gum balls can been used to make a tea from boiling the young green seeds.